The holiday season is fast approaching, and with it, all sorts of uncomfortable conversations with relatives who think they know a lot but are actually Dunning-Kruger examples in action. Not going home is always an option — there’s no reason to spend your free time with people you can’t stand. But if you’re headed home and can’t wait to talk to your uncle or parents over heaping plates of turkey and potatoes, we’ve got some conversation to debunk some of their wildest claims about electric vehicles. Collect points.
EVs take a long time to charge.
The number one complaint from people with no experience driving or living with an electric car, given as the reason they’ll never get an EV, is that it takes too long to recharge. On the one hand, this behavior is understandable. For more than a century, humans have been accustomed to vehicles that can be refueled in minutes, using high-energy liquids that can be pumped into the fuel tank at a rate of 10 gallons per minute. .
In contrast, batteries are not fast at all to recharge, especially if you plug in an AC charger.
Even the fastest fast-charging EV connected to the fastest DC fast charger will still need 18 to 20 minutes to go from 10 to 80 percent charge, and that’s apparently longer than some curmudgeons. Willing to wait while driving. From coast to coast as fast as possible.
The point is, an EV is a paradigm shift compared to a gasoline-powered car. Yes, it’s quick to refuel this gas car, but it’s also a pain, especially if you live in a place where all the gas stations keep closing.
Instead of weekly trips to the gas station — or perhaps more often in some cases — EV owners plug in their cars every night and wake up every morning with a full battery.
I can’t charge it at home
The second most common reason people won’t buy an EV is actually a very good one. If you can’t reliably charge your car at home or work—and I mean it. Reliable-You have no business buying a plug-in vehicle yet. Yes, you can look for your nearest fast charger location like a gas station and drive there once or twice a week, but using a fast charger is much more expensive than plugging in at home, and times Fast charging is not particularly good for batteries. DC fast charging is for road trips, when you don’t have enough range in your car to reach your destination. But for most daily driving, it doesn’t.
But don’t worry, there are plenty of efficient parallel hybrids you can choose from that will suit your needs.
An EV is very expensive.
Unfortunately, the price of lithium-ion batteries has been promised to drop to the point where an electric powertrain is about the same price as a gasoline powertrain. This means that EVs are still more expensive than their fossil-fueled equivalents. But gasoline cars don’t qualify for the IRS Clean Vehicle Tax Credit, and in their eagerness to sell EVs, many car manufacturers are offering incentives to customers who don’t qualify for the credit.
Perks aside, while it may seem like every new EV that’s released costs $80,000 or more, that’s simply not true. There are at least 11 different EV models to choose from for under $40,000, and 17 that cost less than the average price of a new car in 2024 ($47,000).
Moreover, 75 percent of American car buyers buy used cars. Why should it be any different for EVs? In fact, a used EV can be a real bargain. They depreciate more than internal combustion engine vehicles thanks to the aforementioned tax credit, and there’s now a used EV tax credit of up to $4,000 for qualified buyers. We’re even anticipating a year or so of EVs hitting the used market as leases expire.
What happens when it rains or snows or I have to evacuate in a hurricane?
The problem of bad weather and EVs is another thing that is commonly heard by naysayers and FUD spreaders. First, charging an EV in the rain or snow is no less safe than refueling a gas car in the rain. And when you lose some range in very cold weather, guess what? So is every other car and truck on the road, it’s just that those drivers don’t track the object very closely.
The potential need to evacuate an area due to severe weather such as hurricanes also causes considerable concern among EV-speaking people. And again, this is a misplaced concern. If severe weather is on the way, be sure to fully charge your car beforehand, just as you would make sure to fill up your gas tank. Yes, if the power fails, the chargers will no longer work, but neither will any gas station gas pumps, which are also powered by electricity. And the chargers will still work as long as there’s power — those gas stations will need a regular supply of fresh gasoline to serve new customers.
