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20 Reasons Electric Cars Aren’t Taking Over Just Yet

Cameron Eittreim May 21, 2021

Photo Credit: Tesla

6: Limited Cargo Capacity

Another problem in the earliest days of electric cars was the limited cargo capacity. Because of the massive size of the battery, it can take up a good deal of the trunk or engine bay. There is the advantage of no moving parts in the engine but it still takes up a lot of space. In the Tesla Model 3, this isn’t a problem because it is a crossover style vehicle but in a sedan or coupe could be a problem.

Photo Credit: Tesla

The Tesla Roadster for instance had a limited amount of cargo space, which made a lot of buyers turn the other way. Again, the electric car makers are working to change this but a lot of shoppers still need to be convinced.

Photo Credit: GM

5: Electric Car Cost

Let’s face the facts, right now electric cars are expensive to buy. The new Hummer EV is going to be upwards of $70,000. This means that the average pickup truck buyer is probably going to look toward Nissan or Toyota. As long as electric cars are priced so high it is going to limit the marketing potential of these vehicles. The high price of the vehicle is to compensate for the cost of the battery and design.

Photo Credit: GM

But still, if you are marketing to a certain class it can be hard to justify the price. And right now electric cars cost a pretty penny to own. There are tax incentives but that just isn’t enough to justify the high price for an electric car right now.

Photo Credit: Nissan

4: Zero Emissions As A Lie

While an electric car itself doesn’t burn fuel or put emissions into the atmosphere, the power for the vehicle has to come from somewhere. The majority of power is still coming from a coal-powered plant somewhere. So when they say an electric car is zero emissions that isn’t always the case. You are still going to contribute to ozone depletion, just not upfront like you would with a gas vehicle.

Photo Credit: Nissan

For a lot of buyers, the fact that these vehicles are still polluting in one way or another makes the appeal limiting. Coupled with the high price tag you just have a recipe for disaster that is going to cost an arm and a leg.

Photo Credit: Edmunds

3: Quick Charging Can Damage Batteries

A new thing that has been popping up in big cities across the country is rapid charging stations. Sometimes these rapid charging stations can get a vehicle fully charged in under thirty minutes. But there is a problem with that and it comes to the battery. When you rapidly charge something you will degrade the battery a lot sooner. Because these batteries cost thousands of dollars, most consumers are not willing to take that risk.

Photo Credit: Edmunds

Maintenance on an electric car can cost a lot of money, and having a battery go out is just not something that most people want to deal with. Quick charging might be convenient, but it’s not something drivers want to do every time.

Photo Credit: Edmunds

2: Resale Value Is Questionable

It seems like electric cars are changing every month with a new feature or design. This means the used market is going to be saturated. On top of the fact that these cars are extremely expensive to repair, you also have a flood of models. Older models like the Chevy Volt or the Nissan Leaf have fallen out of favor. With unstable resale values, the electric car just doesn’t make a well-used car option.

Photo Credit: Edmunds

This will change in the future as more electric cars make their way onto the market. Places like California are making it to where the electric car will be the only new car sold on the market at one point.

Photo Credit: Flickr

1: Parts Are Hard To Find

Electric cars are still new, and finding parts can be next to impossible. If you have a 1996 Toyota Corolla, you can find everything online from engine replacement parts to body panels. If you have a Tesla Roadster, this is not as easy of a task, and that scares most consumers away. Electric cars are not mainstream enough for the average consumer to be able to repair and own.

Photo Credit: Nissan

Until this changes, you won’t see a good number of the vehicles on the road being electric. It just won’t make sense for the consumers who enjoy being do-it-yourselfers. If you can’t even find a replacement fender, it will be costly to own an electric car.

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