Why Electric Cars Suck - a Historical Perspective

Michael Twaite , a proponent of electric vehicles in a blog from last year tried to explain why owning an electric car would be sheer bliss. Of course KC refutes his arguments in the cold, harsh glare of reality....

Torque: the revenge of the muscle car

Yes torque is the low end grunt that gets things moving - it is also the reason that unless you have multiple gear transmissions like big rigs you can't use the torque at speed, and therefore all that torque is the electric car's worst enemy - manifesting itself in ridiculously low operating ranges. Big vehicles like semis need torque to get moving, and have a 16 gear transmission to make it all work. An Indy racer has no torque at all, and relies on horsepower and high RPM to keep it going at speed. Different purposes, different engineering. However, simple physics tells us that big torque, small vehicle is a bad idea - especially if you are concerned with range.

 Clean garage

 He proposes that garages  fill up with noxious fumes from internal combustion engines. So I have come up with a number of solutions. First, I open the door, second, I leave. He says Tesla garages have art on the wall, so the cars must run clean. I have 1600 horsepower in my garage, AND I have art on my wall. Pinups of Shania Twain. Hey, it's art to me. 

Always full

Mike says he starts the day with a full tank of electrons after plugging in all night. Ah the joy of electrics. If I have half a tank of gas, I can still make it to work and back. 25 times. If he has 1/2 tank of power, he might not make it at all. And he might not make it back. I can always tow him...

Very smooth

Mike says "There’s no clutch, no gear change, and no auto-transmission torque-converter-drag nonsense. Setting off in slow traffic is all about resting your foot on the accelerator. Just like those big electric trains, you look out of the window and think, “Oh, we’re moving.

I'm not sure on this one. I'm a driver, not an operator. I like to feel the response of the engine and the gears, my luxury vehicle is smooth as glass, my race cars are, well, not.

Waiting with heat and air

The heating and cooling in my car runs any time I like. Just like the HVAC at home, it doesn’t need an engine to make it go.

 Ya got me here Mike - your car can run the air conditioner for a few minutes without having the engine on? Then you push the car home. Which is a sweatier activity? I looked at my power bill, and guess what, my HVAC at home has an engine, a large, expensive motor. Yours does too.

 Maintenance, Lack of

Annual service... “One, two, er, three, four. OK, sir, they’re all still attached and they all have plenty of tread left. Be on your way then.” Yes, that’s pretty much it. Once a year the Tesla Roadster (or any EV) should be checked over. Tesla will even come to your house to do that.

Ummm - after 7 years the batteries in the electric car die. Your car is dead. It is the equivalent of your 486 computer, and will have the same value. Push it off a cliff and go by a new one. Tesla may have to come out to your house to do it? Given the Consumer Reports testing problems and various other bricking issues, you may have to have them come out to your house. To check on your 120,000$ paper weight.

Cold weather warmup

It’s early morning and it’s minus something-or-other outside. I back the car out of the garage, turn it around, and warm air is already puffing out of the vents.

 
Just like a regular internal combustion vehicle? Except I don't need heat because I am wearing clothes most of the time.

They aren't bothered by the cold

‘Crank, crank crank, put, put, put, dag.... dag.... dag, dag, dag, dag, dag, dag, dag....” We’ve all had an old car at some point in our lives; it’s a rite of passage.

Most well maintained vehicles will start overnight just fine at -20 weather with no issues at all. The only thing that affects starting power is - wait for it - cold batteries. Not cold engines.

Battery life measured in cranking amps is severely reduced in cold weather. Wonder if that affects vehicle range?

Silence

My house sits between a pair owned by petrol-heads. Ironic right? On one side, a neighbor has the venerable Ford GT. On the other, he has enough old school American iron to open a museum. On a Sunday morning my ears ring to the sound of rumbling exhausts and my nose reels to the stench of half burnt gasoline. The sound of a gas engine has all the charisma of a bunch of sweaty carpenters nailing up an outhouse. It doesn’t compare to the ‘Ooos’ and ‘Aaahs’ of spectators as the electric car whispers past. It’s just...noise.

Yes, chicks dig Priuses.  Nuff said.

They were good in 1910 and they’re still good today

At the turn of the century, in answer to the horrific problem caused by inner-city transportation, electric cars were introduced as a cheap, quiet, non-polluting alternative to replace the horse. I expect you know I mean the turn of the 20th century, right, not this last one?

Ummm, gasoline powered vehicles were introduced to address the problems of horse pollution. Electric vehicles were a novelty that passed. Quickly. And 100 years later - they still don't work. In fact, a horse STILL has a greater daily range than an electric car.

Take another run at the problem - we'll give ya another 100 years or so.