The differences between electric cars and the conventional ones are quite wide. The transition to electric cars will not be easy for the following reasons: For example, “range, acceleration, average velocity, and discharge rate for an electric vehicle are critical design and operation parameters”. The practical range of the vehicle using electrical energy will always be less than what is theoretically possible. In addition to that, people driving electric cars must “accelerate and stop and they drive faster than the speed that maximizes range”. With regenerative braking too, starting and stopping of the vehicle will decrease the range. On top of that, “parasitic losses such as those from an air conditioner, heater, radio, and headlights decrease range”. And finally, full discharge of battery at every cycle brings down its overall life. Hence, there are many technical challenges that need to be overcome, before any headway could be made with the manufacture and marketing of electric cars (Mone, 2007).
In the final analysis, despite their current high cost and limited range, electric cars offer numerous advantages over cars of the present day. Their “relative noiselessness, practicality, and simplicity” will appeal to the new generation of consumers. Electric cars cost much less to recharge and maintain, and have the advantage offered by its fewer moving parts. Their owners consequently will spend less time and energy toward keeping the vehicle in prime condition, and may only rarely visit the service station. These advantages offer great value in contemporary societies. Hence, on a lifecycle basis, the cost gap between conventional vehicles that pollute and the electric ones that don’t pollute all that much is quite close. Quite soon, with “battery development and mass production”, it could be become a non-issue.
References:
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