Electric cars have been slowly more recognized since 2016 when the global sales for all-electric cars passed 1 million. Some like to imagine a future where all the cars on the roads are electric, but that isn’t realistic yet. There aren’t enough charging stations and electric cars are too expensive for the majority to afford. The future is looking promising, however, most car manufacturers are going all-electric and charging stations are getting more and more abundant.

Three main factors contribute to the roads being full of electric cars in the future: Customer influence and their acceptance of electric cars, the capability and reliability of electric cars, and enough charging stations and electric car mechanics to account for the rise in demand.

First, customer influence has a huge impact on electric car sales because if people don’t want to buy them, then they simply won’t buy them. Electric cars have been proven to be worse for the environment than gas cars, and most electric cars are looked down upon. An article on EVBOX.com talks about this topic. In the article, it reads, “Some studies have shown that the manufacturing of a typical EV battery can result in higher carbon emissions compared to gasoline cars.” On average, an EV battery lasts around 15-20 years before it needs a replacement. To have the same emissions as a gas vehicle, an electric vehicle would have to be on the road with the same battery for around 40 years because of how polluting it is to create the batteries. People are made fun of and generalized when they are found to have an electric vehicle because gas cars are seen as the norm. Electric cars also have a different look, which is more appealing to some than others. So, for now, gas cars still fill the majority and lots of customers would like to keep it that way.

Second, the capability and reliability of electric cars can have a huge influence on how many electric cars are being driven around. This goes hand in hand with customer influence because electric cars aren’t as reliable or capable as most gas cars. The batteries in electric cars are so expensive, that EV manufacturers have to lower the quality of the materials that the car is made of to make the car affordable. This also makes the cars break down faster and crumple more in a crash, making them more dangerous as well. This makes people buy more affordable and more practical gas cars instead of electric cars that have less range and won’t last as long. Since electric cars are so expensive, this also creates a considerable lean toward gas cars. The batteries in electric cars usually make them so pricy, as they have to be able to get the car on average 300 miles to the charge. For reference, a used Honda Civic can average 450 miles to a tank, and that car is around $16,000, while the average electric car will run for $30,000 - $40,000. 

Lastly, charging stations and car mechanics will be the support for mass amounts of electric cars to be on the road. If there aren’t enough charging stations, people won’t be able to charge their cars and commute reliably. Also, not all car mechanics work on electric cars because they don’t have an engine, they have an electric motor. Electric car dealerships will of course fix and work on electric cars, but if every car on the road is going to be electric, the dealerships can only do so much. So there would need to be more charging stations and more electric car mechanics to support the amount of electric cars that would be on the road.

Electric cars could be the future, but the far future. The way things are currently looking, the electric car industry has a long way to go until they get to the end goal, which is every car on the road being electric. When the public accepts electric cars, the capability and reliability of electric cars improve more so than gas cars, and when technical support like charging stations and mechanics become more abundant, that’s when there will be a considerable chance that most if not all cars on the road will be electric.

Sources: 

• https://blog.evbox.com/ev-battery-environmental-impact