When you take something that people have as much passion for as the automobile, you’re not just looking at a transportation tool to get from point A to point B. When you step into the drivers seat, your car become an extension of yourself, and in a way, your car is a public expression of your identity.
Internal combustion engine vehicles have served mankind with reliable operation for over 100 years. The industry has experienced countless engineering breakthroughs and created a plethora of undeniable mechanical masterpieces.
From the distinct high pitched growl of a lamborghini, to the teeth chattering rumble of a hemi v8, these cars are exciting and iconic, Its no wonder there’s such a large community of passionate automotive enthusiasts.
When we have meaningful objects with such personal significance as the car, humans tend to retreat to more emotional thinking and logic falls by the wayside.
but facts are facts, and by almost every objective measure, battery electric vehicles are better than internal combustion engine vehicles.
The recent EV revolution has even created some conflict between early adopters of electric car’s and traditionalists born with gasoline flowing through their veins.
In the following video we’re going to tell you exactly why electric vehicles are better than ICE vehicles.
Quicker Acceleration
It’s crazy to think that when a 5000 lb Tesla Model S accelerates to 60 MPH in 2.3 seconds, all that horsepower is transmitted through a 1mm “air gap” inside its electric motor with no physical contact.
Electric cars are capable of accelerating more quickly than ICE cars, because they generate instantly available torque, and deliver it to the wheels more efficiently. Many modern EV powertrain designs eliminate the need for a traditional transmission. In combustion powered vehicles, up to 15% of the engine’s power can be lost through mechanical inefficiency as it travels through the drivetrain.
Electric automakers are capitalizing on the high efficiency of electric propulsion, and creating a new generation of hypercars with mind bottling acceleration, such as the Rimac Concept Two which claims a 1,914 HP electric motor and is capable of accelerating from 0-60 in 1.85 seconds, beating Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster, with it’s comparably grandma slow takeoff to 60 in 1.9 seconds.
It’s not just electric supercars that are redefining the driving experience, take for example the sensible Tesla Model 3 that’s capable of going for a grocery run, and racing back home with a 0 to 60 of 3.2 seconds. These are acceleration figures you’d expect to see for luxury sports cars like the porsche 911 carrera, not a best selling passenger sedan.
Electric Vehicles are Better for the Environment
A common misconception you’ll hear from EV naysayers sounds something like, “ Hey Buddy, you’re charging your electric car with power generated by fossil fuel powered stations, so you’re still creating the same amount of pollution, whether it comes out of your tailpipe, or the 500 foot smoke stack of a coal fired powered station.”
While coal is still the most dominant energy source globally, the use of cleaner and more renewable sources are rapidly expanding, and charging electric vehicles is is becoming less carbon intensive every year. In the US, an estimated 43% of new electricity generation came from renewable sources in 2018, and there are many global initiatives to reach a 100% renewable energy transition in the coming decades.
The state of Washington recently enacted a historic clean energy legislation requiring that 100% of the state’s electricity come from clean sources by 2045, and in the beautiful nation of Costa Rica, renewable energy has has supplied nearly 100% of the electrical energy output since 2016.
But even in a state like Michigan, where 64% of energy comes from fossil fuels, operating an EV still carries a lower carbon impact than an equivalent ICE car.
According to the 2019 Impact report from Tesla the average lifecycle emissions from a Tesla Model 3 are less than half those of a equivalent mid sized ICE car, and if you install a solar power system on your home, and charge your EV with that, your carbon footprint can be reduced to almost nothing.
We’re not just talking about emissions from driving though, even when taking into consideration the entire EV lifecycle: from raw materials, to production, usage, and disposal electric cars still have a lower environmental impact.
Leading EV manufacturer Tesla motors is in the process of reducing their factory emissions, and has enacted an Operations Energy Efficiency Program with “a goal of operating global Tesla manufacturing, vehicle charging, and other operations using 100% renewable energy.”
Another important distinction between battery powered EV’s and combustion cars, is that lithium ion batteries are recyclable at the end of their lifecycle, while once fossil fuels are burned their harmful emissions are released into the atmosphere for good.
Tesla’s battery packs typically outlast the use of the car, lasting for around 200,000 miles. But looking towards the future, improved battery technology such as the highly anticipated million mile battery, could squeeze up to 5 times more use out of each car, and dramatically reduce the lifetime carbon footprint of the vehicle.
Electric Vehicles are extremely Safe
Despite what you may have heard to the contrary, electric vehicles are safer than gas powered cars, and even though the media loves to show videos of Tesla Model S’s engulfed in flames, the truth is the probability of electric vehicles catching on fire is lower than cars with internal combustion engines, and according to researchers only one fire occurs for every 100 million properly used Lithium ion batteries on the market.
The novelty of high voltage vehicles seems to make some people forget that the C in I.C.E. stands for combustion, and ICE cars are powered by a large reservoir of highly combustible liquid fuel.
Electric cars have another huge benefit when it comes to safety: they have no bulky engine under the hood. This means that there’s a larger potential crumple zone and in case of a crash the force of the impact will be distributed across the entire structure of the car and away from the occupants.
Besides these lifesaving design elements, electric car manufacturers such as Tesla are pioneering new active safety features, including intelligent autopilot, lane assist functions, proximity sensors and collision avoidance sensors that help mitigate the fallibility of human operation and provide a buffer against driver error.
Electric Vehicles are Less Expensive to Operate
EV’s won’t just save your life, they can save your bank account too.
The United states office of energy effiency and renewable energy has an online tool called eGallon, that compares the cost of fueling a vehicle with electricity, compared to a similar vehicle that runs on gasoline. The price is calculated using the most recently available state electricity and gas prices, and on average, they find the average cost of the eGallon, is less than half that of regular gasoline.
Now that’s just driving costs, but taking into consideration maintenance costs, electric vehicles create lower lifetime maintenance requirements because they have fewer moving parts and a more efficient design.Because of this, EV’s are immune to the top 10 most common car repairs such as replacing an oxygen sensor, replacing an ignition coil, or replacing a catalytic converter.
As a matter of fact an EV drivetrain has only about 20 moving parts, compared to over 2000 for comparable combustion cars.
Many local governments also offer enticing tax credits and incentives for EV buyers that further reduce costs.
Electric Vehicles are Extremely Quiet
So you miss the rumble of your V8? Well I prefer to accelerate in half the time, with double the efficiency, and do it all without waking up my neighbors.
Electric cars are incredibly quiet, both on the outside and on the inside thanks to their lack of an engine. Noise pollution is actually a big deal, even though some people are still sentimental about the loud rumble of a V8, it’s better for humanity to have silent transportation. If you’re anything like me and enjoy listening to podcasts and audiobooks on the road, it’s a massive benefit to have a quiet cabin that becomes your very own classroom.
Also With the rise of delivery, the pervasive pulse of massive idling diesel trucks has become a common soundtrack in every neighborhood across the world, and it will be great to have these replaced with fleets of silent electric trucks.
Electric Vehicles Require Less Maintenance
As the saying goes: less is more, or less, maintenance that is. With the simplified and more efficient drivetrains of Electric vehicle’s, there are fewer moving parts and components to be replaced or maintained.
An internal combustion engine vehicle requires a crankshaft to convert the reciprocating motion of the pistons into rotational motion, a flywheel to smooth power output, and a ton of other mechanical and electrical components electric cars don’t need.
Even the underbody of an electric car is an ode to simplicity, made up of only a few metal plates welded together at the seems, there’s not much to be seen when you take a look under an electric car. Maybe it doesn’t spring to mind instantly, but yet another great thing about electric cars is the fact that there’s no annual or bi-annual oil change required. No matter how many miles you put under your electric car’s virtual belt, the low oil indicator will never light up on your dashboard. On top of all this , there are no spark plugs to be replaced and even the disk brakes last longer thanks to regenerative braking that takes a great deal of friction away and instead turns the slowing down of the car into energy.
Electric Vehicles are Smarter and more Civilized
Yes, modern combustion powered cars are jam packed with sensors, computers and dashboard tablets but electric cars are on top of the mountain of intelligent technology: being constantly improved via over the air updates to make them even smarter and safer. Tesla is especially known for periodically updating their cars software, utilizing driver data to improve safety, make improvements, and max out the overall experience with clever add-ons like games and easter eggs.
Subjectively, Electric cars are just more civilized. The world is heading towards a sustainable future, so driving an EV is a good way to show you’re on team planet earth, or Team Mars if you’r a big Elon Musk fan. If you’ve ever eaten outside at a crowded street café and had a noisy smoky diesel truck pull up to unload deliveries, you know how offensive that is, and for all of the technological advancements our society has made, that experience is just plain uncivilized.
If the fact that electric cars have a bigger brain than conventional vehicles wasn’t enough, it appears that they can actually make smarter too. No, seriously Air pollution exposure has been proven to damage children’s cognitive abilities, increase adults’ risk of cognitive decline and possibly even contribute to depression.
Conclusion
And if saving your brain, wallet and the planet hasn’t yet convinced you that electric cars are better, you have one pedal driving, you can warm your car while it’s in the garage without risking carbon monoxide poisoning, you benefit from privileged parking spots, there’s free charging available at some public stations, and in California, you can drive your electric car in the restricted high occupancy vehicle lane without a second passenger.