LETTER: EVs will soon be ready for prime time
T. Mayer (April 11 “EV folly” letter) opined that electric cars “will never provide a cost-effective or efficient solution to all transportation needs.” As someone who has driven an EV for the past eight years, I disagree.
Most EV owners can charge their cars at home every night, so they have much more “in the tank” than they need for their daily drive. EVs owners have no need to spend time and money at the local gas station or in the shop for tuneups, oil changes or other routine regular maintenance needed in gasoline-powered cars. Because EV motors have far fewer parts that a gasoline engine, there is less to go wrong and the life expectancy of the motor is much greater than a gas-powered engine. Even with the high cost of car batteries causing the purchase price of an EV to be greater, the overall cost of ownership of an EV is lower than for most gasoline-powered cars.
The true weakness of the EV is the ability to take it on a long road trip. When I got my EV, the range was 259 miles. Driving from Las Vegas to Southern California required stopping in Barstow, where there were four stalls for me to charge my car. Filling the “tank” could take as long as a hour. Fast forward to 2024. Now EVs have a range up to 500 miles. Charging from 10 percent to 80 percent can be done in as little as 20 minutes. And there are literally hundreds of charging stalls available to use all along the route.
The current availability of EV charging stalls is a weakness for EV ownership. However, the growth of charging networks, the improvement in range availability and the increase in charging speeds will soon erase even that relative weakness. In my opinion, in the near future EVs will provide a cost-effective and efficient solution to all transportation needs.
