After seeing the benefits of an electric drive train over an ICE, the next logical question is "if they are so good, why aren't all cars like this?". The following theories have been suggested for as to why electric cars have failed to take off:
- Manufacturer's Money: There is an incredible amount of money that has been invested in refining and promoting the ICE car as the mode of transportation. Moving to a completely new system of propulsion means that the investment in the old technology gets a diminished return. Similarly, manufacturers have spent the better part of a century working out how to make money off of cars that need fluids constantly refilled, belts changed, moving parts replaced etc. Changing to a much simpler electric drive-train means that manufacturers can't make the money they used to by servicing cars and replacing parts
- Oil Money: This theory is relatively obvious; electric cars don't use oil and oil is worth a lot of money. If electric cars ever take off there will be a lot of rich and powerful people who will inevitably lose out. Rich and powerful people have been known to do all sorts of things to protect their profits. There have been some pretty convincing suggestions that oil companies have bought-out technologies that have threatened their way of making money, especially relating to electric cars. An example of this is the WaterFuel Corporation in Australia (technology bought by an oil company). As another example, oil giant Chevron bought out the patent and production rights to the NiMH battery, which were used in electric cars during the 1990's (particularly in California) and refuses to license the technology or produce any to sell to consumers, only accepting large OEM orders. Oil companies can't make money off a car that you charge in your own home. It has also been suggested that the hydrogen fuel cell (though much less efficient than batteries as an energy storage medium when production energy is taken into account) is being promoted because it can still be refilled in the same way as a standard car, meaning oil companies can still make money off of them. (More specific examples needed...).
- Fear of Change: Electric cars are pretty different from ICE cars; they drive differently, they sound different, they smell different, you put energy into them in different ways, etc. In many ways these differences can be considered an advantage of EVs (e.g. they sound quieter...) but people have a strange habit of sticking to what they are used to, even if the unknown alternative may be better. According to vehicle manufacturers there has not been enough demand for them to bring an EV to market. However, growing environmental concerns, fuel prices and the stepping stone of hybrids cars have paved the way for consumers to demand a better system: electric cars.
- Recharging: Operating an EV requires forethought. Once you have run your batteries down, you need to recharge. Unlike refueling for an ICE, this will take more than 5-10 minutes and your refueling points will be somewhat limited. Because of this an EV can make a great commuter and short-trip vehicle, but would be considerably more difficult to utilize when you need to go further than one charge will take you.
- High cost and low energy density of batteries: The situation is improving with new battery developments moving into large scale production, but electric cars currently cost more and have a much shorter range between fill-ups because of the batteries. DIY conversions using lead-acid batteries can have 1000 pounds of batteries and still be limited to less than 60 miles on a fill up. The new electric cars from major manufacturers have a lighter weight battery pack and more range, but still are very limited compared to a car with a gasoline tank with 15 gallons of gasoline (around 100 pounds) that can drive well over 400 miles on a fill-up. Where daily travel is limited to maybe 30 miles and the car can be charged up every night, a car with a smaller (lighter and less expensive) battery pack may provide great service without the limited range being a serious problem.
- More Information Needed..
