by Chris W. Burger
Aside from decreasing/eliminating waste and increasing efficiency, electrifying everything is the most viable pathway to transition away from fossil fuels. Coupled with generating electricity with renewables (70% renewable electricity by 2030, and 100% by 2040 in NY State), this would achieve that transition. Having reduced our waste to practically zero by 1992, built an energy efficient home in 1978, electrifying everything (including our heat, hot water and cooking), and powering our home with renewables (active and passive solar and geothermal, plus wind and hydro from our Energy Supply Company-ESCO) /content/30-years-zero-waste-or-pretty-darn-close, my family decided it was time to turn our attention to our transportation.
This was made more challenging by the fact that we live in rural upstate New York. With no public transportation available, we need our car to get anywhere and everywhere. We tend to keep our vehicles 10 years or more, traveling over 200,000 miles in the process. Our last vehicle had reached that point in 2021. It was time (maybe past time) to make the switch.
After doing some research, we ended up with a Ford Mach-E. Electric vehicles (EVs) tend to cost $10,000 to $12,000 more than their internal combustion engine (ICE) equivalent. Tax incentives and rebates, however, reduce that difference significantly. What’s more, there have been numerous studies demonstrating overall savings for EV owners when maintenance and cost of powering the vehicle is factored in. Once again, like many other transition strategies, upfront costs work against the poorer members of our society.
The reasons for lower maintenance and energy costs are numerous. First and foremost, simplicity. Internal combustion engines have hundreds of moving parts; EV motors have one. They don’t need any tune-ups, oil changes, muffler replacements, or any of the other repairs required by the internal combustion engine. Brake replacement is significantly reduced due to regenerative braking (using the motor to brake). Regenerative braking also recovers the kinetic energy of a moving vehicle, cutting back on energy consumption. ICE vehicles are 80% inefficient overall, partially due to braking, but mostly due to the very nature of the gasoline engines themselves. NOTE: Loss due to idling has been reduced by cycling engines on and off in newer ICE vehicles. Tire replacement in EVs, however, tends to be more frequent due to the weight of the batteries.
Batteries and their weight on EVs tend to be evenly distributed among all four wheels. This provides more traction, especially in AWD vehicles. All this coupled with a lower center of gravity results in better overall handling. Living in snow country as we do, these were features we really appreciated.
One further point on cost: I installed a home charger that recharges the car, on average, in about 4 hours. I start my day fully charged. An ICE vehicle that gets 35 miles to the gallon and spending $3.50 per gallon, costs 10 cents a mile to power. Home utility grid cost for an EV is about 1.2 cents per mile but by using my home generated electricity (solar), I spend less then a half cent a mile. It is extremely rare that I ever need a public charger but charging on road trips costs anywhere from free to 6 cents per mile.
The range on my Mach-E is 230 miles (considered low just 2 years later). This is far more than I use on any typical day. This also means I can travel anywhere within a 100 of of my home without ever needing a public charge. I consider anything over 100 miles, a road trip. A trip to my daughter living on the Hudson (164 miles), for instance, requires that I, at the end of the trip, use a public charger (taking 15 to 20 minutes to charge with a Level 3 DC Fast Charger), plug in at her home using her outside 110 outlet (taking about 16 hours to charge), or use a 220 outlet just inside her garage (taking about 6 hours to charge). A trip to my other daughter in Old Orchard Beach, ME requires at least one charge along the way, but this is a 6 hour trip and we always stop to eat. The car is fully charged well before we are done eating.
We have taken our EV as far north as Old Orchard Beach, ME (numerous times), as far south as Tampa, FL (twice) and as far west as Nashville, TN and we have never had any trouble finding public chargers when we needed them. The Mach-E has its own, built-in navigation system that takes into account (1) the charge we are starting with, (2) the temperature outside (range is reduced up to 18% in the winter due to effect on the battery and needing to heat the cabin), (3) driver (yes, it can tell who is driving), and calculates when we will need a charge. It then builds the charging station(s) into the route. There are also free cell phone apps for those EVs that do not have this type of system.
While Tesla has the largest charging system thus far, the fact that there are numerous charging vendors these days, means that the overall charging network for non-Tesla EVs is far greater. We have never had any trouble locating a charging station when we needed one and the process could not be easier; basically, just plug it in. Most systems identify the vehicle and bills your designated credit card. When the charger does not recognize your vehicle, you can use a credit card reader built into the charging station. More and more hotels provide chargers. Sometimes, however, we have plugged into their outside 110 outlets (with their permission, of course).
It’s worth noting that while there is a growing network of “fast” chargers out there, any EV will only charge as fast as it is designed to. That is the other factor that has been improving over the years. It is important that when you buy an EV, you research both range and the charge rate of the vehicle and purchase the highest range and charge rate you can afford. Some makes/models are more user friendly than others. Some work better with public chargers than others. One should search user list serves for the model vehicle you are considering to see what other owners are experiencing.
It also needs to be said that, when it comes to charging, the electricity is only as green as the method by which it is generated. This, of course, is changing rapidly (some providers already boast of their clean/green supply source). This holds true for your home charging as well. This is yet another reason why everyone should be ensuring that their electricity is generated by renewables, either with rooftop solar, community solar or through an ESCO. The energy, labor and material it takes to build EVs can be just as damaging as building ICE vehicles. This is why I would never advise buying an EV until you actually need a new vehicle.
All told, however, unlike ICE vehicles, EVs will continue to get greener over time. They truly have the ability to move us away from our dependence on fossil fuels. They naturally have much better pick-up (instant, higher torque), handle better, are quieter, and, yes, fun to drive.