7 Reasons You'll Be Buying An EV Within 5 Years

So you’re a petrol head? You love your powerful cars, right? And you’re sure you’re never going to want an EV? We reckon you might soon change your mind.

Here’s 7 reasons why you'll soon change your mind...

1) Performance & Handling

Performance - let’s start with the thing that makes you go “ooh”. Or in some cases “Oh! ARGHHH!

Contrary to the cliche, EVs are not milk float/golf cart things. In fact, they are basically the fastest accelerating road cars you can buy. Even at the tamer end of the market, the instant acceleration (maximum torque, zero revs) makes driving even a performance ICE seem depressingly sluggish. I’m increasingly unsure of why people continue to make non-EV sports cars.

But then there’s handling too. Though EVs are heavy their chassis-mounted, evenly distributed battery packs mean they have great balance and a really low centre of gravity. Chassis design engineers can finally rid themselves of the challenge of how to overcompensate for the uneven weight of the engine block. The quality of ride really shows the advantage.

2) Range Serenity

One of the common concerns with EVs has been the constrained range. While it is true that we are some way from EVs offering the same range as a tank of petrol (often >400 miles), 200 real-world miles is increasingly achievable. And, we tend to think 200 real-world miles is the holy grail. It’s the point at which driving around the key destinations in our lives is easily covered, while it allows for circa 4 hours of driving between rapid charge stops.

But isn’t 200 miles (EV) worse than 400 miles (ICE). Kind of, but extremely rarely does it matter. Particularly as the EVs have a winning benefit here too...

3) Convenience

Remember when the fairies came overnight and filled your ICE car with petrol? Nor me. How about at work? Does work pump fuel into your car during the working day? These happen if you drive EVs - and we don’t need fairies.

As cars are out of mind when out of sight, we often mistake them for the mobile objects we experience them as. But they aren’t mobile objects. They’re stationary objects that move ~5% of the time. EVs allow you to utilise that 95% of the time to top up, instead of detouring to refuel when you were trying to go somewhere. You top up when you’ve already got there, while you’re doing what you went there to do.

It takes a mindset shift to get this. Once you’ve lived it you’ll never want to go to a filling station ever again.

4) Low Running Costs

Even if you claim to love petrol, you surely don’t love paying for the stuff. Why pay more? A direct comparison between costs for a full battery electric car (BEV) and a petrol/diesel car shows the BEV wins this game by about 75%. And petrol costs are creeping upwards of late again.

In fact, this differential is so profound that in a like-for-like whole life cost comparison BEV already beats ICE. That is despite having higher purchase prices.

5) New Cars and Falling Manufacturing Costs

But hark! Those high purchase prices are falling fast. So fast in fact that a 200 real-world range full BEV will reach cost parity with ICE vehicles in the early 2020s. The change that this will lead to is truly profound.

You could also have a legitimate concern that there isn’t really an EV for you yet. There are boundless options in the ICE market. But this is starting to change and, from the early 2020s, the market will begin to get a plethora of awesome looking cars, both premium and economical.

6) The Tech that EV enables

EVs are kind of like big smartphones, their main functions are controlled by a computer, and they can receive over-the-air software updates to improve their functions and even their performance.

Also, EVs can be always on. ICE cars are basically on or they’re off. There’s a small amount of time where you can sit in it with the engine off, but you’re going to drain that puny lead acid battery if you try using any of its functions for any period of time. That big battery can run the electrical functions for daaaays and you can play with them remotely. Lots of features become possible. Perhaps the most popular current feature is the opportunity to heat or cool your car remotely before you get in it. Living in the UK it’s the former that is the most value to your Scribe! And goodness it makes you smug to abandon your scraper.

7) Travel Shouldn't Damage the Earth

At Pod Point, we’re in it for the long haul. Building a business is tough. It really helps to have a reason beyond the financial to keep chugging through the tough times. We’re motivated by the fact we are contributing to a cleaner, brighter future, where travel doesn’t damage the earth.

So, do I think petrol heads are going to want to join this mission? Yes, actually.

When problems seem insurmountable, it can be tough to be motivated to try. When the thing that you enjoy also has environmental upside, even petrolheads will likely enjoy being part of this movement. You might buy your P100D Tesla because it is “ludicrously” fast, but I bet you’ll start playing the game of trying to keep your wh/per mile as low as possible on long drives. Once there’s no longer a compromise, and their awesome toy contributes to it, I believe petrolheads will enjoy this aspect of their cars.

Now EVs are no panacea. We need more cycling and more use of public transport in urban centres, but cars will continue to play a critical role in our transport mix. In order to really remove the harm from cars, we need to stop using fossil fuels in a way that EVs can offer. Of course, we need sustainable power generation too. But, with huge progress being made on the green power front, EVs are one part of an increasingly exciting shift to clean transport that everyone can take pride in.

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