04/02/2019
WHY Electric Cars are the Future
The days of Gas Guzzlers are numbered. The internal combustion engine (ICE) is a dead man walking.” The transition has just begun, but the move from ICE vehicles to electric will happen sooner and more quickly than most people suspect.” Here’s why…
Battery Costs Continue To Go Down
“Lithium-ion batteries cost $1,000 per kWh in 2010. By 2017 that cost had fallen to $200 per kWh, and it won’t stop there.
Battery Capacity Continues To Go Up
“Lithium-ion batteries are increasing in energy density at a rate of 5–8% per annum. … The Tesla Roadster, which launches in 2020, has a stated range of 1,000km. When electric vehicles have a range of 1,000km, it is the ICE vehicles which start to have a range problem.” Just a quick glance at the range of today’s electric vehicles show this trend clearly — if others continue to follow the leader (aka Tesla), range should continue to steadily improve.
Electric Car Battery Packs Have A Long Life
It’s reported that, “Contrary to what many believe, the batteries in electric vehicles don’t degrade over time (or over miles/kilometers driven either). This is a graph of the battery capacity of Tesla Model S/X vehicles, and it shows that after driving 270,000km (roughly 168,000 miles), the batteries still had 91% of their original capacity. … The bottom line is that the batteries lose about 1% of capacity every 30,000km (18,750 miles). This means that the upfront cost of an electric vehicle can be depreciated over a far longer time lowering the vehicle’s total cost of ownership significantly — EVs will just keep on working. Having said that, this data is specific to Tesla batteries — we will have to wait to see how other manufacturers fare.”
Electric Cars Are More Reliable
And, don’t forget: “Another factor in favor of electric vehicles is that they are far more reliable. The drivetrain in an ICE vehicle contains 2,000+ moving parts typically, whereas the drivetrain in an EV contains around 20. A quick scan of the top 10 cars repairs of 2015 is telling. Only one of these faults can happen to an electric vehicle. It makes you wonder what would happen if an EV driver was forced to go back to a gas car.
Electric Cars Are Cheaper To “Fuel”
Electric vehicles are typically significantly cheaper to fuel as well (unless you happen to live somewhere that has particularly cheap petrol and extremely expensive electricity). And with the price of oil going up 50% in the last 12 months, finding somewhere with cheap petrol will become increasingly difficult.”
Ice Car Resale Values Will Collapse
Already electric vehicles and hybrids have become the fastest selling used cars. As this trend continues, forecasts show that, the resale value of ICE automobiles is going to collapse… why would you buy one today? Think about that for a second. Why would you buy an Internal Combustion Engine vehicle today, if its resale value in 3-4 years will have fallen significantly? You wouldn’t. And when people start to realize that, the market will flip. And it will happen quickly. Sooner than most people think. Will your next car be an EV?”
China
In the world’s largest car market, China has passed a law which requires any vehicle maker to obtain a new energy vehicle score of at least 10% by 2019, which rises to 12% by 2020, and on up to 20% of sales by 2025. As a result of this announcement, all the major OEM’s have suddenly found EV religion.” Tesla, already ahead of the curve, signed an agreement with Shanghai Municipal People’s Government to build its first Gigafactory outside of the United States in China.
