Electric Vehicles: Pros and Cons

In the early days of automotive history, electric cars were more popular than the other alternatives, gasoline and steam-powered vehicles. Gasoline was volatile, highly flammable, scary to store and tote around in a tank. (Ever wonder why early garages were on the other side of the lots from car-owners’ homes?) Scalding-hot steam was nearly as frightening, and not much fun to use, or fast to make.

Transfer of Power
Electric volts, by contrast, were easy to store and use and cheap to replace. EVs didn’t go very far or fast, but who needed to at the time? Just turn the switch and step on the pedal. Folks didn’t hear or smell you coming or going. Once there, switch it off and plug it in.


While the nearly 4,200 motorcars built in 1900 were roughly one third each electric, steam and gasoline, enthusiasm for steam cars soon waned, while gas and electric cars grew. The former offered higher speeds, longer range and much quicker refueling; mostly women enjoyed the latter for local use. But electrics faded fast after electric starters eliminated engine cranking, enabling anyone to operate a gas-powered car, and internal combustion engines (ICEs) have dominated ever since.


Now, growing concern for national security and the environment and unpredictable, sometimes sky-high, fuel prices have revived strong interest in volt-powered vehicles.

EV Advantages
There’s no question that EVs enjoy a number of important advantages over fuel-powered cars. For starters, electric motors emit nothing and don’t care where their volts are generated. In the future, they can come increasingly from squeaky-clean sources such as solar, wind and hydro. And they produce just 5-10 percent of an ICE’s potentially harmful emissions per mile traveled even when the electricity source is an oil- or coal-fired plant.