Can electric cars ever replace petrol entirely?
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Can electric cars ever replace petrol entirely? |
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The question reminds me of a great quote by Ed Begley, "Electric cars are not for everyone. They only meet the needs of 90% of drivers." We're the first to admit that, with the current state of the art, battery powered electric vehicles do not have sufficient range to replace all petrol powered vehicles. But their range is sufficient for most people, and every vehicle makes a difference. If you rarely travel more than 100kms per day, the advantages of an electric car should outweigh the inconvenience of those times you need to travel further. Perhaps a couple of times per year you might have to hire a "petrol burner" for the family vacation. Or in multi-car families it can be very easy to justify having all but one vehicle pure electric. As battery technology improves however, electric vehicle range will become increasingly competitive with their ICE counterparts. Lithium battery technology is advancing rapidly, and hopefully within the next decade range will not be such an achilles heel for electric vehicles. |
