Advantages and Disadvantages of Electric Car
Electric cars are growing in popularity every day. Just like conventional cars, there are certain advantages and disadvantages of using an electric car.
Advantages:
- Electric cars are energy efficient: Electric cars are far more efficient than conventional vehicles. AEV (All-Electric Vehicles) directly converts electricity into movement. AEV batteries convert 59% to 62% of energy into vehicle movement, while conventional vehicles only convert 17% to 21%.
- Lower ongoing costs: The best thing about driving an Electric Car is that it reduces worries about increasing petrol and diesel prices. The SEAI estimates you can save up to 70% on fuel costs by switching to an AEV. SEAI also offers grants to make it more affordable to switch to an AEV.
- Less Maintenance: An Electric car has fewer moving parts, so it requires less maintenance. The simplicity of the mechanics of electric cars works in their favour, even the vehicle’s brake pads last longer than a petrol or diesel car.
Disadvantages:
- Availability of charging stations: One of the biggest barriers stopping the advancement of the electric car is the lack of charging stations. While the Irish government has ambitious goals for the adoption of electric vehicles, we are still far behind in terms of the public availability of electric charging points. In Ireland, there are about 1000 charging stations spread out across the country. Initially, they were free, but now ESB offers a monthly membership that allows you to save on each charge. However, you can install a home charger for greatest convenience.
- High Purchase Price: AEVs are quite expensive compared with regular cars, even including the government grants for new AEVs. However, let’s be optimistic and hope their use spreads and production expands, resulting in a price decrease.
- Charging time: With trickle charging, the car battery takes between 5 to 8 hours to charge fully. In contrast, if you are lucky to find a fast-charging, high voltage public charging point, you could be waiting for an hour for it to charge. Another optimised way is to install a low power home charger, and you can leave it overnight to charge your vehicle fully.
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