Are electric vehicles the best choice in 2013?

This is the question on many minds, what with all the hullabaloo about greenhouse gases and CO₂ emissions. Electric cars have long been touted as the solution to the environmental ills caused by exhaust emissions as they don’t produce any. They don’t in any way increase the amount of carbon in the environment and this has made them the darling of environmentalists. Even when it comes to noise pollution these cars contributevirtually none; they are as silent as cars can be.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are powered by batteries that store electric charge. When the first EVs were entering the market, a major problem was where to charge the batteries as they had to be powered from specific power stations. And given the fact that the charge used to run out every few miles, this was a deterrent that gave EVs a bad reputation. However, the EVs in showrooms today can be charged from the mains electricity at home. And speaking of gassing up, it has been estimated that electric cars cost about a quarter of what it costs to run a car that runs on fuel.

Ok, so you can juice it up at home and it is much cheaper to keep on the road than an ordinary car. Plus an EV helps keep the planet greener for longer. Furthermore, you’ll be able to escape the London’s oppressive £10 congestion charge. So why again isn’t every car on the road an EV? Well, let’s start at the juicing-up question. While you can charge your car at your socket at home, it will take you 12 hours to do fully charge the battery if yours is a 120V-rated socket and about half that if it is a 240V socket. This is fine if you remember to connect your car to power every night before you retire to bed. But what happens on the days that you forget to do so? The only way to charge your vehicle in less than 2 hours is by using the public charging stations. But how many of these are they in the UK? And while today’s electric car can travel as far as 100 miles on a full battery, this is still low as compared to a car whose tank is filled with petrol.

Another thorny issue is the cost of these vehicles. It is true that the prices have plunged as many more carmakers have joined the electric fray and as technology has advanced. But electric cars are still dearer on average than their petrol-consuming equivalents.