While the government have given deadlines to the motor industry to phase out the production of new petrol and diesel vehicles in favour of electric, it is still hard to envisage a day when most cars on the road will be electric, when you go to the dealer to buy a new vehicle and all you can buy is an electric car or van. And while the message is being driven home that electric is better for the environment, better for our pockets and better for ours and our children’s futures people are still questioning the decisions being made by the government. Rightly so!
There are the big looming questions about the huge cost of these vehicles because of the lack of investment in to the battery technology, how the infrastructure will develop quickly enough to take the obvious strain of thousands more electric vehicles on the road and is electric genuinely better for the environment. There are also questions regarding the maintenance and running costs of electric vehicles and whether in the long run it will be financially better, worse or the same as running a petrol or diesel vehicle.
Let’s look at some of the more global questions.
Initial cost of electric vehicles
As with all new technology, initially it is expensive and the price tends to drop as investment Is made into the technology, this will inevitably be the case with electric vehicles. However, the lack of investment into the battery technology and the capacity required to make them in significant numbers means that the reduction in overall cost is still a long way off.
Infrastructure development
Whilst there is a plan to develop the infrastructure, many are concerned that the plan doesn’t go fast enough and there are still so many unanswered questions, for example for those with on street parking, living in flats and in listed properties and finally are we prepared to make the changes necessary when making longer journeys. Do you want to hang around at a service station for a charging point to become available and then another 30 minutes to charge the battery?
If you want to know more about the plan, you can access it by clicking the link below.
Electric vehicles and the environment
Studies suggest that the CO2 emissions from electric vehicles production are up to 59% higher that that of petrol or diesel vehicles so it stands to reason that the vehicle is not immediately better for the environment. Whilst some say this initial deficit can be driven off in around 13,000 miles some point to the drive off being more like 50,000 miles.
What about running costs
Lets first take a look at powering the vehicle petrol vs electric. Currently the cost to run an average family car (just power) is approximately 14 ppm for petrol and 11 ppm for electric (based on the current electricity cap). These costs will fluctuate as the cost of petrol, diesel and electricity go up and down.
Servicing is likely to cost less, there won’t be filters and oil to change,but tyres and brakes are likely to wear more quickly due to the increased weight of an electric vehicle versus a petrol or diesel vehicle.
In the loooooooonnnnnnggggg run the drive towards electric will probably be better for the environment and the cost of running electric vehicles will probably be a bit lower but the charging infrastructure, initial cost of the vehicles and change in the way we take long journeys are still all up for debate.
