I'm the kind of bloke who appreciates variety, and the selection of alternatives. But the current politics in motoring, especially in Europe, is heavily pushing us into battery driven EVs. No arguments allowed. The insanely strict emission standards by EU have forced auto makers to focus only on battery powered EV development, but is it smart to bet on one single horse in this race? You could endlessly debate with internet wannabe scientists about the environmental effect of mining lithium or cobalt for the EV batteries, or manufacturing an EV in the first place. And what happens once the battery has ran its life? The most enlightened of us are telling me those batteries can be refurbished for solar power use maybe, but the more cynical of us, like me, is thinking they might be shipped to Bangladesh or Nigeria, where people just toss them into ocean. That doesn't sound very sustainable or responsible to me.
And let's think about all the devices in our lives which use a battery. Smartphones, laptops, toothbrushes perhaps, wireless mouses & keyboards... The battery is often the first thing to go, and usually at the very moment you'd need the device the most as well. Apple decided for us that we don't "need" a mobile phone battery to last an entire day, but personally I think that kind of thinking is waste of energy. I live in a country where we can expect really cold weathr at some point during winter, and recent tests have showed many of the EVs are struggling to meet the effective range even at 50%, and the power output is also insufficient to keep the cabin warm. It also worries me what kind of effect constant fast charging has on the battery life, will that render the entire car useless after 3 or 4 years? Or does it require very expensive repair? Not to mention, how will charging stations handle the number of customers, if one fast charge lasts about 30 minutes? Compared to the amount of regular cars jogging through regular gas station in same 30 minute period. National power grid will handle the extra power demand easily, if we build a nuclear power plant or two, the internet wannabe scientists are telling me. But at the same time, the media was raving how the grid was under stress again last Christmas, when the entire nation put their Christmas hams in the oven at the same time.
Then there's the "range anxiety". Which interestingly, has become some kind of ridiculing, mocking phrase even car media across Europe is using as propaganda. "Who seriously needs such a range?" Well, I do 450km or over road trips about 20 times a year, and I rarely have access to charging points on my route. I wouldn't mind taking about 30 minute stops every 200km, no, but I don't want to constantly fast charge my EV either. Already now I fill my regular ICE cars with petrol or diesel rather than insect poison or dishwasher liquid, because I'm not going to do deliberate harm to my car. Immediate, or long term.
Right now the problem with EVs is also the selection. They're all made for wealthy urban people, and I'm neither of those two. Currently the cheapest EVs in my country start from 35, maybe 40k€ brand new, and for that money you'd get a VW Golf sized hatchbuggy which runs maybe 400km on one charge, on a good day. This is an ideal solution for urban commuting, sure, but I can't transport all the stuff I now often carry on board, nor can I visit the forest roads I nowdays often need to. It will be interesting to see how far electrification goes with pickup trucks and 4x4s in the future, but but right now we're out of choices. Not to mention, spending 40k€ on one single car is far out of my reach, both financially and by principle. I could fetch 2.5 out of 3 cars in my dream garage for that money. Used ones, granted, but just perfect for my needs.
I'm trying hard not to sound like a luddite, who just wants to fight the change. No, I'd be happy to drive an EV, if the problems above were solved. I really like the concept of Chinese Nio EV brand, they put these "service stations" across country, where an assistant swaps the entire battery of your car into fully charged one in just about 10 minutes. I would have really wanted to see where the development of fuel cell (hydrogen) technology is heading. I would have been interested in Chevrolet Volt style hybrid tech, where a bio fuel generator with rough 170mpg would power the electric drive train. But sadly, we're short on options at the moment. And I'm not sure if the electric future will be significantly brighter at this pace, in long run.