20 Drawbacks of Electric Vehicles That Are Often Forgotten

We are starting to see a lot more ads on TV and online for electric vehicles, not just cars either. Even trucks are showing up. However, for a number of years, auto experts have been cautioning drivers about what they need to consider when buying one.

There are inescapable facts about electrics

In December 2019, MotorJunkie.com published an article about the 20 biggest drawbacks of electric vehicles.

We are not going to list all 20, but are highlighting the ones that are starting to get noticed in news stories, and the public is beginning to become aware of.

Short Range Anxiety

Motor Junkie and others use this term about the mileage range of electrics. If an electric vehicle has a range of 250 miles, that means you can actually travel about 125, because you have to drive back. That is unless you locate a charging station. Compare that to a gas-powered fuel mileage car which often can travel 500.

Long Charging Times

We are starting to hear reports of vehicles that take a lot longer than expected to recharge. Compare having to spend hours reboosting an electric vs. five minutes pumping gas.

Trip Planning Issues-Urban Use

We're going to combine these two. If you're planning a long trip, cross-country, you will have to map out charging stations along the way. Despite what Joe Biden said on TV recently, our nation is NOT covered in charging stations coast to coast. You will also note most of the electric vehicle TV ads show them in a city or urban environment. And electric vehicles would be good there because you're not going to be out on a deserted highway with no way to recharge.

Repair difficulties-Cold Weather issues

We are combining these two as well. According to Motor Junkie and other sources, you won't be able to perform any maintenance on these cars, they have to be done in a shop. Replacing the battery can be very expensive, especially once it's out of warranty. Most EV makers will replace within the warranty, and the industry average for those is about 8 years. But outside of that? Can be as much as $20K

Cold weather can affect performance. AAA has released studies showing the average electric vehicle loses 12 percent of its range in cold weather, but it jumps to about 41 percent if you are running the heater at full strength.

Weight affects performance

Most EVs are not known for having top speeds comparable to the higher horsepower gas-powered performance cars, and the bigger the car, the heavier the battery. A heavy battery drains speed performance as well. Motor Junkie reports the Tesla X has a battery that weighs at least 1,000lbs, and the car itself is 2.3 tons. That's only a few hundred pounds less than my 2012 Dodge Ram SLT crew cab pickup which has a 5.7 liter Hemi engine.

It's pretty simple. The heavier the object being moved, the more force is needed, and the more speed is reduced unless you have a very large engine.