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Julian Moreno

Ms. Figueroa

Senior English

26 November 2018

Electric Vehicles Are Not Dependable

Electric automobiles are gradually making their presence known in the automotive

industry. As a result, many individuals have been spending their well-earned currency on

undependable electric vehicles. Obviously, electric vehicles (EVs) are powered by electricity.

This is where an automobile powered by a regular combustion engine parts ways from an electric

vehicle powered by a battery. Although both automobiles carry some similarities, they remain

enormously different. For example, both automobiles have a sizable storage unit that holds the

source needed to power the engine. For a regular combustion engine, its source of power is

gasoline, which is stored in a hollow enclosed tank known as a gas tank. An EV’s storage unit is

immensely divergent when compared to a regular gas tank. Subsequently, electric vehicles are

not powered by a liquid, but instead powered by charged particles moving at high speeds. Thus,

generating electricity and no gas tank would be needed. As an alternative, the source of an EV is

stored in car length lithium-ion batteries, the same batteries found in Microsoft laptops.

Unfortunately, the battery is the largest flaw of the electric automobile. For a vehicle that has

been around for roughly two centuries, equivalent to a gas-powered vehicle, many would think

that throughout the years EVs would not be problematic. Originally, the EV was invented in

1828, but did not actually began its debut in the United States until 1889. Surprisingly, the

electric vehicle was quite successful and has created a high spark of interest in many inventors.

Consequently, because of the high interest spawned within inventors, new improvements were
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made possible, making the electric vehicle more reliable and dependable, but the spotlight has

only glazed the electric automobile as interest began to fade in 1925. It was not until five decades

later that electric vehicles emerged back into discussion.

The absence of the EV has benefited the vehicle, as technology improved throughout the

years. Successively, the improvement of technology has created the possibility of new

improvements for electric vehicle, making the vehicle extraordinarily beneficial. One significant

benefit would be the lack of a combustion engine. The absence of the roaring engine in an

electric vehicle has drastically reduced the noise and has created a silent, comfortable driving

experience. In addition to lacking an engine, it would mean the absence of engine maintenance.

Without an engine, there will be no need for an oil change. The improvement of technology is

the foundation as to why the EV improved significantly. With that being said, the improvement

of technology would result in the improvement of all electric vehicles, but that has not occurred

yet, technology still lacks its supportive element. An example on how today’s technology is not

capable of supporting electric vehicles can be seen in the capability of their battery. The battery

is blocking the EV to reach its full potential. The cause of battery being impassable is due to the

sluggish improvement of technology. Simply improve technology to improve EVs, but that takes

time. The EV is not ready to be released as our technology is not supportive enough. The early

release has set a bad image against electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles have been seen to be an environmentally safe, beneficial alternative to

an everyday gasser, and in some cases that is sought to be true. Unfortunately, the many ruinous

problems overpasses the few benefits that EVs embrace. For one, like stated earlier, the battery is

the foremost drawback that the electric automobile possesses. According to the Alvin Reyes, the

publisher of the advantages and disadvantages of EVs, he states “The battery is not a reliable
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source of battery to power a full size car, hence creates range anxiety” (Reyes 1), but what

exactly is range anxiety? Range anxiety is having to worry on how much fuel and or electricity is

being utilized by the driven vehicle. This creates concern within the driver on either having or

not having enough fuel to travel to and from their desired destination. Range anxiety is rarely

seen with a combustion engine as vehicles with said engines come with a mile per gallon (MPG)

rating. In combustion engines, mileage is rated by the contribution of two components. The

quantity of gallons of gasoline a vehicles gas tank can hold, and the amount of gasoline the

engine consumes every mile. For example, according to Dodge the 2016 Dodge Dart can store

16 gallons of gasoline and travel 28 miles and shockingly only burned one gallon of gasoline. On

approximation, the average American travels 30 miles per day, according to driveline. This states

that an individual driving a 2016 Dodge Dart can travel 448 miles before having stop and fill up.

Unlike the Combustion engine, like the one powering the Dodge Dart, electric vehicles are not

rated by MPG but instead rated as miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe). According to

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 33.7 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity is equivalent

to one gallon of gasoline. The 2016 Tesla Model S is powered by the largest battery ever placed

in an electric automobile. The Tesla Model S has a 85 kWh battery, meaning that an average

American driving the Tesla Model S will only travel a mere distance of 265 miles before having

to charge. The lack of mileage available for travel is the reason why many individuals have range

anxiety. To add insult to injury, the world has grown and develop among combustion engines. As

a result, gas stations are sprouted everywhere, making them easy to find whether being small

town or large city. This is unfortunate for anyone owning an electric automobile as EVs lack the

capability to store and or utilize gasoline. Fortunately, the substitute for a gas station is known as

a charging point or station. Sadly, the amount of charging stations available within cities are
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scarce. Unlike gas stations, charging stations lack the quantity of numbers and are vastly spread

throughout cities, making it challenging to experience a worry free, suitable, comfortable,

driving experience. Alvin Reyes, the publisher mentioned earlier, once again states” Not every

place you desire to travel to will have a charging point to full your personal electric automobile”

(Reyes 1). Without accessible charging points, EVs will lack the ability to become a true

competition against gassers. Once again, the slothful improvement of technology remains the

sole proprietorship as to why electric automobiles constantly show unreliability. It seems as the

automotive industry does not understand that EVs are not fit for today’s technology.

The statistics revolving around EVs batteries and how today’s technology cannot support

the true potential, has proven how timid the reliability of EVs actually are. Surprisingly,

reliability is not the only area that consist of many faults. Although the Insurance Institute of

Highway Safety (IIHS) is governed to appropriately rate how well a tested vehicle performs

under collision scenarios, they do not test nor rate the safety of the internal components and or

elements of the vehicles they test. Unfortunately, while EVs getting acceptable collision ratings,

the internal components are where safety has been proven to be insufficient. Like stated multiple

times, the battery is the most problematic possession that the electric vehicle holds. The battery

that powers electric vehicles is a lithium-ion battery. Lithium-ion batteries, like all batteries, will

degrade overtime, but when compared to a regular lead acid car battery, lithium-ion batteries

degrade tremendously faster. According to the article, why do lithium-ion batteries explode, it

states “Almost every electric car carries a LARGE lithium-ion battery. Lithium-ion batteries

have a high tendency to explode” (advantages 1). The cause of the explosion is created by all the

chemicals inside the battery. As the battery begins to heat, the batteries separator would only

begin to degrade expeditiously faster. The battery can eventually hit temperatures of more than
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1000℉. At this point, the flammable electrolytes can be ignited or even explode when exposed to

the oxygen in the air. Due to the fact that batteries degrade faster than usual, producers

compensated and have installed an enormous battery. The battery being so sizable, made it

impossible to fit in ordinary places, such as the engine compartment and or the truck storage. The

explosive car length battery was relocated under the passenger compartment. If someone was

unfortunate enough to get into an automobile accident while operating an EV, the lithium-ion

batteries located under a thin layer of sheet metal, that happens to be under the cockpit, can

potentially crack, heat up and or explode, leaving the passengers in a burning death trap. To

make matters worse, all electric vehicles are prominent when getting into an accident, some

worse than others. Since EVs lack a combustion engine, they tend to be exceedingly silent.

Although silence might be seen as a luxurious benefit, the silence can become the biggest threat

that any EV driver might face while behind the wheel. It is scientifically proven that when an

individual hears a loud noise, they tend to look around for the noise making them aware of their

surroundings. For example, when an individual hears a roaring engine while driving, they tend to

figure out where the noise came from, only to realize that the noise came from a Harley

motorcycle that was in their blind spot. The driver was aware of the motor cycle due to the noise

produced by the engine. Unfortunately, the EV lack the potential of producing noise, making it

arduous for other drivers to be aware of their surroundings. With that being said, “silence is a bit

of a disadvantage as people like to hear noise in order to acknowledge the driver coming up from

behind. Electric vehicles are however very silent and can lead to accidents in some cases”

(Advantages 1). The absence of noise can sometimes be very beneficial, but when it comes to

operating an automobile, the absence of noise can potentially be extremely dangerous. Without

noise, the vehicle becomes an invisible, silent, moving target. Regrettably, IIHS has considered
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many EVs, like the 2016 Tesla Model S, safe, which is obviously not the case. Not only would

consumers be wasting their well-earned currency on unreliable automobiles, they would be

putting their life at risk while operating an electric automobile.

The electric automobile has so far proven to be an unreliable and life threating, but the

woes continue. When compared the amount the time it takes for an EV to fully charge up its

battery and the amount of times it takes to fully fill up a 32 gallon gas tank, the lengthy charging

time will always remain on the first place podium for time consumption. Although Gasoline

released from the fuel pump nozzle is governmentally restricted to 10 gallons per minute,

charging times still surpass the average 3-6 minutes it takes to fill a 32-gallon gas tank.

According to Alvin Reyes “charging will very on the size and capability of the battery. A typical

EV holds a 30-kWh battery. This battery takes up to 4 hours to charge from empty using a 7 kilo-

watt (kW) charging point… The 2016 Tesla Model S is equipped with an 85-kWh battery and

takes 102 hours to charge from empty using your common house hold 110-volt outlet” (Reyes 1).

Some Tesla owners choose to buy a charging point for their homes in order to make it possible to

charge the vehicle overnight. Consequently, the charging point will increase the electricity bill,

but reduces charging time from 102 hours to 8 hours. The individuals that preferred to not buy

the charging point, will have to endure a lengthy wait of 4 days. Throughout the mighty wait, it

might be possible that the EV could have experience some mechanical failure while charging. If

that were to happen, a quick fix would be extremely challenging and lack of knowledge might

lead to more damage or even death. A quick fix is not the same on an EV as it is on a combustion

engine. The nonexistence of possible quick fixes is another disadvantage of the electric

automobile. Ever since the first combustion engine was invented, many individuals have learned

and mastered the proper way to fix specific engines. Not many have mastered the proper pay to
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quickly fix the battery of the EV. The lack of knowledge can result in one’s death by

electrocution of the EVs battery. One has to be a trained professional order to avoid being

electrocuted. According Alvin Reyes “Only one in every 25 mechanics are properly trained and

are certified to operate on battery powered vehicles” (Reyes 1). If something were to go

spontaneously wrong with your EV, it would be a horrendous to find a certified mechanic. The

absence of possible quick fixes is a true disadvantage for many, as numerous individuals lack the

enthusiasm to drive there auto mobile to a certified mechanic 40 miles away. Overall the Electric

automobile is extremely bothersome own due to the lengthy charging periods and the

nonexistence potential of quick fixes.