By Maddax Winston-Evans

Electric cars have been around since 1828, but it has not been until recently that they have become so popular among the everyday driver. There are numerous benefits of owning an electric car, so why have more people not made the switch to electric?

A 2018 Tesla Model S 75D. Photo credit: Vauxford via Wikimedia Commons.

On average, electric car owners save thousands each year because they do not have to pay for gas. It costs roughly between 300-450 dollars a year to charge electric cars, while it takes $1000-$2500 to pay for gas annually. Also, for Tesla electric car drivers, there are countless public charging stations across the country that are free to use. Tesla also provides car chargers for homes with the purchase of a car. Electric car owners won’t need to worry about fluctuating gas prices, because they can fully charge their car from home. This constantly plays a factor in people’s decision to buy an electric car, because they know they will save money each year, regardless of gas price fluctuations.

The largest positive effect of having an electric car is the small carbon footprint. The purpose of the electric car is to be able to drive while also helping the environment. Electric cars do not produce carbon emissions while driving, which reduces greenhouse gases. In over a year, one electric car can save around 1.5 million grams of CO2. This is about the same amount as four flights from London to Barcelona. In an ideal world, everyone would have electric cars in order to fight climate change, but there are many reasons that this will not happen for years to come.

While many manufacturers haven’t switched to electric yet, there is still hope, as companies are planning to become mostly or all electric. Luxury carmaker Ferrari is trying to become 60% electric by 2022 and all electric by 2025. General Motors (GM), the largest US carmaker and one of the leading global car companies, is putting millions of dollars into their electric vehicles, and plans to become almost completely electric by 2035. On March, Volvo announced that it plans to be all-electric by 2030. The federal government is leading the way by stating that they are going to convert their gas vehicles into a fleet of all electric cars. If the government can pull off an entire fleet of 645,000 electric cars, it could influence local governments and private companies to transfer to electric cars as well.

The main reason why people are not switching to electric cars is the upfront cost. While it takes less money to fuel the cars, they tend to be more expensive when you buy them. Tesla, the largest producer of electric vehicles, starts their prices at $35,000 for their Model 3, and prices only increase from there. This is why out of the 17.1 million vehicles sold in 2019, only 1.4 percent were electric vehicles. Also, while companies such as Ferrari are trying to convert to electric very quickly, others are saying it is not possible. The CEO of McLaren, Zak Brown, states that the technology for an all electric supercar is not ready and won’t be for 30 years. While McLaren has a very small amount of customers because of how expensive their vehicles are, it shows progress towards more electric vehicles on the market. Another company making changes is Ford, one of the largest vehicle producers in the world. Ford is investing one billion dollars in one of their German plants in order to have an all-electric passenger vehicle lineup in Europe by 2030. Not only are the top of the line vehicle manufacturers going electric, but also the producers of cars for the everyday person are making the switch to electric in countries other than America.

The new electric Ford Mustang Mach-E. Photo credit: Automotive Rhythms.

One downfall of an electric vehicle is that they are not usually as powerful as gas-powered cars, since they run on a battery. One charge of a Tesla can last anywhere from 250 miles to 400 miles, depending on how fast you drive and how you accelerate. While the majority of cars on the road today are gas-powered, companies are investing millions to produce more electric cars for all types of drivers.