10 Reasons Why Electric Cars Still Suck

Electric cars and their place in the automotive industry is one of the hottest topics of our times. As a planet, we're emerging from more than 100 years of burning gasoline, which has worked wonders for us so far.

Without fossil fuels and natural gas, the Second Industrial Revolution would not have happened, and we'd still be stuck with coal-powered everything. The gas-powered vehicle will go down in history as one of the most important inventions the world has ever seen. Still, oil is finite, and the vast majority of scientists agree that we need to cut down on greenhouse gases and lower our carbon emissions.

That's where the electric vehicle comes in. As a concept, electric cars are a great idea. They don't need a complex internal combustion engine, have fewer running parts, and emit no greenhouse gas whatsoever. But that's just the concept.

Reality is a little different, and it would only be too easy to think of 10 reasons why gas cars are better than electric vehicles.

But that would be narrowminded because we firmly believe there is room for both. In a perfect world, we'd have a Kia EV9 for all the mundane weekly tasks and a Porsche 911 for the weekend. ICE vehicles remain relevant, no matter what fervent EV owners say.

But just like an ICE vehicle has its downsides, there are multiple downsides of electric cars. With that in mind, let's look at 10 reasons why electric cars are bad, starting with the most obvious reasons and working our way up to more complex and subjective arguments.

The average range of an electric vehicle in the USA is nearly 300 miles, much higher than the global average of roughly 200 miles. But this average is not fully representative because the average price of an EV is also much higher in the USA. More on that later.

If we isolate models below the average price of a new car, we can see that cheaper electric cars offer less range. Due to limited model options, the range available in the more affordable segments is closer to the global average.

Range remains one of the main disadvantages of electric cars. To get your hands on a vehicle with more than 500 miles of range, you'll need to spend more than $100k on a Lucid Air Grand Touring.

While 200 miles is OK for most, we also have to consider the living arrangements of buyers shopping around in the cheaper segments. The perfect setup includes a home charger, so you can do a slow overnight charge daily, keeping the battery at 100% or close to it. But not everyone owns a house with a garage, as we'll discuss later.

Internal combustion engines are also mostly immune to the weather. Whether 100 degrees or sub-zero, gasoline-powered cars will perform roughly the same if kept in optimal condition. The same can't be said of electric vehicles. Multiple studies have shown the impact of cold weather on electric cars. Why would you buy a car when a significant portion of its range is not available for three to four months per year?

Modern electric cars have innovative thermal management systems to solve this problem, bringing us back to cost. A Nissan Leaf has a basic air-cooling system, while the Porsche Taycan has a complete thermal management system that can cope with hot and cold. But a Leaf is $30k, and a Taycan is a six-figure car.

Finally, what about long-distance travel? An EV's limited driving range means you can only cover 300 miles before you need to stop. And while service stations are getting more fun, we'd rather refuel and get back on the road.

To understand charging problems, we first need to explore the ideal setup. In a perfect world, you'd have a home with a Level 2 charger where you can charge an EV overnight. You'd use your electric car like you use a phone. You never let it run down to zero, and you charge it at times when electricity is at its cheapest, so it has less of an impact on your electricity bill.

But, as we said, this is the perfect setup.

The reality is that one of the main cons of electric cars is that a large chunk of the population doesn't have a garage, especially those who live in cities. You're limited to the existing charging network if you park on the street. While fast chargers will top a modern EV up in 30 minutes or less, you lose out on some of the leading EV benefits, like cheaper electricity rates during off-peak hours.

You also do more damage to the car's battery by only using quick charging, and the car will never be charged to the complete 100%. If you've ever wondered why manufacturers quote charging times from 20%-80%, that's the main reason. Most manufacturers recommend keeping a car between 30%-80% as that's the optimal range for the battery's health. It's no secret that batteries degrade over time, and only using fast charging will affect the battery's health.

While we're here, we might as well dispel what is usually seen as one of the most prominent negatives of electric cars. No, EVs aren't going to kill the electricity grid. The government has a proactive plan to make the necessary upgrades before mass adoption happens. EVs can also feed power back into the grid and can be used to power your house for up to a week should something else take the power grid down.

The zero-emission lie is likely the main reason why EVs are bad. The zero tailpipe emissions claim is valid, but you must also account for the other damage an electric vehicle does. And we're not talking on a macro level. An electric car uses regular tires, and tires are a big polluter, especially for heavy cars that wear out their rubber more quickly.

On a much larger level, we have to look at electricity generation. Unless your EV connects directly to a solar, wind, or hydro-powered station, it's having an environmental impact.

Most of America's electricity comes from natural gas, nuclear, and coal. An EV's environmental credentials mean nothing when you still have to burn coal to run it.

Manufacturers are using more renewable energy sources when producing cars, but several studies have shown that the EV production process emits more greenhouse gas than an equivalent ICE car.

You all know what's coming next. A manufacturer requires lithium, nickel, cobalt, and several other metals to make EV batteries. Mining is a filthy and dangerous business, and it's unequivocally connected to battery production. You also need these metals to build charging stations.

The worst of the lot is cobalt, which is not required in LFP batteries. The current most significant source of cobalt is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The DRC uses child labor, and there's no way that can be justified. But before you go out and point fingers at EV owners for propagating child labor, know that you're doing it as well. More than a third of the world's cobalt is used in smartphones, tablets, laptops, et cetera. Keep that in mind the next time you comment about child labor from your device…

Luckily, the world is quickly adapting, with new cobalt mines in Canada and the USA. Cobalt is also being mined as a by-product at existing mines in Australia.

As if child labor isn't bad enough, cobalt mining can also lead to serious water pollution. Since the DRC is cool with kids working nine to five, we're pretty sure it's also cool with dumping toxic residues wherever. This seeps into the groundwater, poisoning local communities close to the mines.

This problem exists thousands of miles from the electric car in your garage, but please think about it the next time you extol the virtues of battery technology.

EVs are not a bigger fire risk than gasoline-powered cars. It has been disproved many times over, even if you factor in the smaller pool of electric vehicles.

The main issue is fighting an EV fire. The known and readily available methods for fighting fire don't work. You literally have to drown an EV to stop it from burning, and even that doesn't always work. In most cases, the fire department will douse an EV and keep it separated from other cars for a few days after the fire.

EVs burn so fiercely because of thermal runaway. One cell catches fire, and then there's no stopping the blazes until the entire thing burns out. The most basic method for fighting fire is to cut oxygen, but since a car's battery is a self-sufficient source of oxygen, it doesn't work.

So far, there have been two significant burns at sea, unfairly pushing the agenda that EVs burn for no good reason.

The world needs to evolve. Firefighters are learning new methods to fight EV fires with powdered graphite, foam, and sodium carbonate. This will also be less of a problem once solid-state batteries are widely adopted, as they're less prone to burning.

At the moment, electric vehicles are still pretty nifty regarding taxes. The government will give you up to $7,500 if you buy the right electric car. These government incentives are a great way to get people to adopt electrification, but one could argue that governments shouldn't get involved in private enterprise. If that were the case, at least 50% of automakers would have died out during the Great Recession. Fair is fair, and all that.

Our big question is what comes next, and we can already see it happening. The government currently takes a few cents in tax for every gallon of fuel you buy. That money is used for the upkeep of roads and infrastructure. Where will that money come from if several states get their way and ban ICE outright?

The government will have no choice but to implement the same user pays model, so it will raise electricity taxes. An even more relevant question is whether this model will be applied at charging stations, through an annual electric vehicle tax, or home usage.

If it's home usage, every single electric device will be taxed. The government will function under the assumption that your car is charged at home, so even when it's not plugged in, you'll pay tax for watching Netflix on a flat screen.

We're not saying this will happen, but there's no clarity. It's just one of those potential drawbacks and unintended consequences. In the future, it may be one of the main arguments against electric cars.

The average price of a new EV is currently around $64,000. The average purchase price of a new car (all cars, including electric vehicles) is $48,000. As you can see, there's a massive gap, and not even the Inflation Reduction Act's contribution helps.

With $20,000 new cars no longer being a thing, the new affordable mark is roughly $25,000. At that price, there aren't many EVs to choose from. If you live in the right state, you could get a Tesla Model 3 at that price. Your other options are the Chevrolet Bolt or Nissan Leaf.

Manufacturers are on a mission to introduce more affordable models, but way more expensive models are coming through. What the world needs is the EV equivalent of the Toyota Corolla. Affordable, reliable, and perfectly fine to get passengers from point A to point B. Nothing more, nothing less.

The second thing we have to consider under this banner is resale value. If you look at any list of cars that retain value, you'll note one of two things. The vehicle is either stupidly reliable, like the Toyota 4Runner, or it's an icon and a joy to own, like the Porsche 911.

All EVs lose value rapidly, and you have to factor that into the total cost of a car. Electric vehicles are also built to be expendable due to limited battery life. This is one of the future disadvantages of electric vehicles on the environment. An ICE car like a 4Runner will live for decades and a million miles if you look after it, but EVs may have a limited lifespan.

We say it may be because we don't know yet. Tesla's batteries are a remarkable energy source, as they've retained most of their storage capacity.

There is a false belief that EVs have a limited lifespan, just like other appliances. But the truth is we don't know yet. Not really.

One thing is for sure. Once the batteries are gone, electric vehicles are no longer economical to fix. To us, this is another big reason why electric cars are bad. An electric vehicle with a dead battery is worthless. It will be cheaper to buy a new car, putting even more strain on the environment.

This has become less of a problem now that Tesla appears to have won the charging wars. The NACS plug will likely be the standard going forward, giving more people access to Tesla's remarkable charging stations. And thanks to the government, billions will be spent expanding the grid.

But even considering all of this, we still see some problems in the future. In high-density areas, Supercharger stations are often flooded during peak hours. The average time spent at a charging station is also much higher than the average gas station, where you pull up, fill up, and bail.

And while this may seem like a stupid point to make, we have to consider future service station costs. If you own a gas-powered car, you're in and out within minutes. But in a best-case scenario, you'll spend 15 minutes at a charging station. We think 30 minutes is more accurate, as not all stations can access a car's full charging potential.

EV makers include several features to keep you entertained. You can play games or watch YouTube, and we all know what will happen. You're not just going to sit there and watch YouTube for 30 minutes. You'll inevitably end up spending $10 on snacks in the shop. This is a prime example of unintended bad things about electric cars.

Luckily, Porsche will keep its customers slim by giving them access to a gym.

Several manufacturers are still investing in combustion, hydrogen, and synthetic fuels. But these automakers are in short supply. For the most part, automakers have accepted the cards politicians have dealt them. This may lead to stagnation and a lack of innovation, though Hyundai is doing the most to make its electric vehicles enjoyable.

One of our biggest fears is the standardization of the EV skateboard, which leaves little room for engineers to play around. The battery will be located in the floor, and you'll have a single-, dual-, tri-, or quad-motor setup.

Just think of all the unique powertrain options we're going to lose. The rotary engine is already gone, and the W layout is nearing its end. Mid-engine cars will eventually disappear, as will mechanical four-wheel-drive systems.

Pretty soon, all normal cars will feel the same. To get your gearhead fix, you'll need to spend millions on something like a Rimac Nevera.

Most electric vehicles are one-trick ponies. Note, we say most because there are exceptions like the Nevera, Battista, and, on the lower end, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N.

Thanks to that well-known instant torque delivery, EVs are stupid fast in a straight line. But going from 0-60 mph in two seconds gets old quite quickly. If anything, we enjoy the acceleration from 50-70 mph even more.

The primary issue is weight. Weight is a well-known fun sucker, so automakers constantly have to come up with new tricks to make heavy cars feel somewhat entertaining.

Having said that, we believe it's only a matter of time. All you need is a dedicated automaker to do the work. For reference, look at what Caterham is doing. Its first EV is a lightweight masterpiece and almost guaranteed to be a joy on the track.

Electric car owners are one of the main reasons electric cars are bad. Nobody likes a smug person, and people don't want to be told what to do. Not all EV owners are bad. Some buy an EV for the same reasons we would - because a Mini Cooper Electric Hardtop is the most fun and efficient way to complete a 50-mile commute. It's as simple as that.

But it gets annoying when EV ownership becomes cult-like, and we all know who we're talking about. Tesla fanboys are the worst, and their silly antics have led to several people disliking an EV based purely on not wanting to be associated with other owners. For the record, we 100% believe there are reasonable Tesla owners out there.

Preaching that EVs are the only solution is narrowminded because it doesn't take reasons 1 to 9 into account. We believe the future should be a mix of EV and combustion, if only to get owners from both sides to stop shouting at each other.

In short, being smug about your EV will only make your neighbor rev his supercharged V8 muscle car even harder, and rightly so.