This Is Why I Believe An Electric Car Revolution Is Inevitable

July 5th, 2015 by Zachary Shahan

Originally published on EV Obsession.

I’ve written about this before, a couple of times (or more), but I think it is time for another piece on it, since soooooo many people still don’t get it.

In a “link drop” a week or so ago, I shared a Tesla Motors Club forum thread titled, “Is it Conceivable to Go Back to ICE After Driving a Tesla?” The thread now has over 100 posts, and I have to say that I haven’t gone through all of them. Luckily, though, an EV Obsession and CleanTechnica reader recently pointed me (and others) toward an awesome one toward the end. From neroden:

I can’t even stand to rent an ICE car. I can’t even stand to borrow someone else’s ICE car. It’s kind of embarassing.

When I got back in an ICE (recently repaired from body damage) after driving the Tesla Model S for a few months, I said “Why is it shaking? Is there something wrong with it? We’ll have to take it back to the repair shop!” My fiancee said, “Dear, I think it always did that.”

When other people offer to pick me up in their car, I offer to pick them up instead. Just so I don’t have to get in an ICE car.

I can just about tolerate getting into an ICE-powered taxi or limo. If I *must*.

Really, it’s that extreme. You will not want to go back to ICE cars.

– – – Updated – – –

Originally Posted by forumman83 Seems like an overwhelming agreement. So what is “it” about Tesla or EV that makes you never want to go back?

It’s better.

…OK, I’ll unpack that a little. ICE cars shake violently all the time. They seem to want to move even when standing still. It’s exhausting just being in them at all. They have sluggish acceleration. They have frighteningly sluggish deceleration, making me fear that the car won’t stop when I take my foot off the gas. They have erratic response to the pedal, not linear response. The response is delayed, sluggish, non-responsive. They’re loud. They stink to be around because of the fumes. They’re unstable, with a poor center of gravity.

And you have to go to these weird stinky shops and pump stinky, carcinogenic slime into them. Regularly! Even in the cold! Outdoors! And you have to pay for the privilege!

And then there’s all the crazy maintenance. “Oil changes”, “timing belts”, on and on and on. And the hood gets really hot.

Oh, and the heat doesn’t come on for like ten minutes after you start driving in the morning, so you’re freezing the whole time.

It’s like going back from a sleek electric train to a steam locomotive. Except steam locomotives move more smoothly than ICE cars.

And is this the beginning of the end for ICE?

Yes.

– – – Updated – – –



Originally Posted by Zythryn …I feel safe stating I will never buy another ICE. If I am feeling nostalgic, I’d sooner buy a horse.

Great line. And I agree.





There are more gems in that thread, but that was an exceptional one.

Others agreed in their own words. The last comment in the thread right now is this one from jvonbokel: “Well put. It is kind of embarrassing. I got rear ended 6mo ago (on the interstate!) and I still haven’t had it fixed in part because I don’t want to have to drive an ICE for even a few days (also because it’s minor enough that I barely notice it).”

I don’t know if there’s a point in trying to summarize the great… summary above. But to add my own words to this a bit in :

Electric cars have much better acceleration.

The acceleration isn’t just quicker, but it’s also smoother and quieter.

And the acceleration matches the pressure of your foot much better and more linearly.

The acceleration we’re talking about here is not the second half of a 0–60 mph sprint. No, it’s the instantaneous acceleration, the stuff that really matters. This is what makes getting onto a highway, into a roundabout, or off of a red light much easier and more enjoyable.

The only thing that might trump the acceleration of an electric car is the convenience of an electric car — you get home, you plug in, and you forget all about the wasted time and horrible smells that you had to suffer during countless trips to the money-flushing gas station. (Until you have to rent a car or drive in someone else’s… which you of course avoid like the plague!)

Aside from forgetting how horrible it is having to find a gas station every week and stand at it while smelling cancer-causing fumes and watching your money go down the drain, you can also forget about the annoyance of oil changes, timing belt repairs, muffler replacements, smog checks, etc. — EVs are just simpler and cleaner.

At the same time, your EV is smarter and more cultured, allowing you to pre-heat your cabin or even sleep in it with the AC on without spending many pennies at all or worrying about carbon monoxide poisoning.

without spending many pennies at all or worrying about carbon monoxide poisoning. Oil/gas prices spikes? Oil wars? Giving your money to oil tycoons in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, the USA etc? Fuggedaboutit. All of it.

I’ll just close with response #103 in that Tesla Motors Club forum thread, from Mr X:

When you run out of electric range in the Volt and it switches to gas…

Images: Tesla Model S & Nissan LEAF pictures by Zachary Shahan | EV Obsession | CleanTechnica (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Kanye West GIF source unknown.









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