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20 Reasons Electric Cars Aren’t Taking Over Just Yet

Cameron Eittreim May 21, 2021

12: Fire Hazard

There have long been reports of electric cars catching on fire, and it’s always in the back of people’s minds. Because an electric car is completely electric, the risk of fire is a lot higher than your average gas-powered vehicle. Likewise, there are also fears about how an electric car would fare in an accident without catching fire.

These are just some of the things that prevent people from purchasing electric vehicles. Because these cars are still fairly new on the market the worries that accompany them are valid. Consumers should also take the time to check the vehicle’s track record thus far.

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11: Subpar Performance

Before the current crop of electric cars from Tesla and Ford, performance and electricity weren’t equated in the same sentence. The thing that made most electric cars stand out was the fact that they were painfully slow. Take the GM EV1 or the early Toyota Rav4 EV, both of which were not comparable to a gasoline-powered engine. Performance-wise, most electric cars are quite fast nowadays.

But getting drivers to see that is another thing, and electric cars have a long road ahead of them to replace gasoline-powered vehicles. Drivers need to understand that an electric car can compete in every sense of the word.

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10: Lack of Availability

Electric cars are still a brand new concept when you put into perspective the age. This means that finding an electric car is not easy for a vast majority of the country. Tesla for instance only has dealerships in the large metropolitan cities. And car companies like Nissan and Ford are only ordering these cars in small numbers. Quite a few electric cars such as the Fisker Karma were in a special order, which made it even harder to acquire.

The Rivian Truck is another prime example of an electric car that might be hard to get. Until dealerships, in the middle of the country start carrying these cars, it might be a tough sell. At the moment, an electric car is more of a luxury item than a mainstream vehicle.

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9: Lack of Service Centers

An electric car is not an average vehicle, which means that finding a place to service it isn’t easy. Most run-of-the-mill automotive mechanics that you are going to come across are not equipped to work on one of these vehicles. Finding a suitable service center for your electric vehicle is few and far between, and quite costly to boot. Most vehicle owners look for a mechanic who is trustworthy and gets the job done.

But this is a bit harder with an electric car because most mechanics are not familiar with these vehicles just yet. You’ll be in for a bit of sticker shock if you do manage to find a mechanic who can do the job right the first time.

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8: Lack of Charging Infrastructure

It’s not just the fact that there aren’t a lot of charging stations, it’s also the fact that most power grids are not equipped to handle millions of charging vehicles. The whole concept of electric vehicles was only mainstream in the last decade. As such, most of the power companies in the country have not been able to upgrade.

Likewise, most new homes are not built with a dedicated charging station either, which means you need to outfit a spot to charge your car. This is next to impossible if you live in an apartment complex or a condominium. If the charging infrastructure is upgraded in the next couple of years more people will be accepting electric vehicles.

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7: High Electric Bill

Upfront, owning an electric vehicle might seem cheaper than paying for gasoline. But when you are charging the vehicle in your home, you are going to pay a higher bill. This is something that scares a lot of potential electric car drivers. Many of whom are already dealing with higher energy costs across the board. Again, electric cars are such a new concept that most people haven’t factored in what it would cost to own one.

Until homes are built to handle these types of vehicles owning one might be a difficult proposition. If you live in a large city, you can park at a public charging station when you are at work. That will eliminate the need to charge at your home for the most part, which is a good thing.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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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