Electric Vehicles: Pros and Cons

They are also quiet, mechanically simple and three times as energy efficient—in terms of the amount of stored energy that gets to the wheels—vs. gasoline ICEs, and an electric motor needs no transmission because it generates maximum torque from zero rpm. Another key advantage is regenerative braking, which turns the propulsion motor into a recharging generator during coasting and braking. “Regen” can recapture 20-25 percent of the energy that conventional brakes waste as heat, and the car’s lightly used friction brakes last much longer.


On the other hand, there are many good reasons why gasoline engines blew boilers and batteries out of business in the industry’s early years. Batteries were bulky, heavy and expensive, they could store only a fraction of the energy of a much smaller, lighter and cheaper tank of gas, they took hours to recharge, and they needed frequent replacement.


EV interest revived briefly in the 1960s and early ‘70s amid growing ICE emissions and (following the ‘70s fuel shortages) gasoline cost and availability concerns. General Motors, among others, built some concept EVs and the first fuel-cell EV, and a few companies sold very small numbers of battery electrics. But as petro-fuel worries waned, those efforts faded.


In January 1990, GM ignited EV passion again with its bullet-shaped, ultra-efficient Impact electric concept car, co-developed with California high-tech firm Aerovironment, which flaunted impressive performance and range numbers. So enthusiastic were the press and public responses to it, in fact, the company decided to explore volume production. That April, it established a small, elite engineering group to do exactly that.


California then tried to force an EV market by mandating the top seven automakers to make two percent of their sales in that state “zero emissions” by 1998, with the requirement ramping up to 10 percent by 2003. That forced GM and its six strongest competitors into simultaneous EV development and competition, whether or not the technology would be ready.