An EV is an abbreviation for an Electric Vehicle. A vehicle that runs on electric power is called an EV. EVs can be either partially or completely electric.

The running costs of electric cars are very low because there aren’t as many moving parts that need to be fixed. Electric cars are also very environmentally friendly because they use little or no fossil fuels (petrol or diesel). Lead-acid and nickel-metal hydride batteries were used in some electric vehicles, but lithium-ion batteries are now the standard for battery electric vehicles because they have a longer life and are better at storing energy. They also have a self-discharge rate of just 5% per month. Even though these batteries have become more efficient, there are still problems with them because they can go into “thermal runaway,” which can cause fires or explosions, for example, in the Tesla Model S. There have been efforts to make these batteries more safe, though.

From home, it can cost just £7.80 to fully charge an electric car and it can even be free in public car parks.

There’s a lot of talk about electric cars these days, mostly because there are more of them than ever before, but also because zero-emissions rules mean that in the near future you might not be able to buy a new internal combustion engine car.

There’s no need to be afraid of the electric future, but there are things you should think about before you buy an electric car (EV).

1.  It’s Possible Without Home Charging, but It’ll Be Difficult.

People who own electric cars will tell you that the best time to charge is overnight when electricity is cheap. Having a charger at home is great.

EVs aren’t out of the question, but it will take a little more time and money to get one. You’ll want to learn about the public chargers in your area, start shopping at a grocery store that has one, and see if your workplace will get one if it doesn’t already.

But keep in mind that not being able to easily plugin at home or work means taking time out of your schedule. So keep a book in the glovebox or a pair of comfortable shoes in the back so you can get some exercise when the weather is good enough.

2. Inadequate Charging Infrastructure

If electric cars are going to take off like they need to, public charging needs to keep up with the times. 
It also has to have its own app and account, and some public chargers can be broken or occupied. You might live in a place where you can’t get to them at all. So, obviously, this isn’t a problem that you have. It’s a problem for the people who build public chargers so you can drive.

3. Charging speeds vary greatly.

Suppose you find a DC fast charger and have a car that can charge quickly enough to almost not care about it. Then, there’s the whole problem of actually charging quickly, which takes a lot longer than you think it should.

See, DC fast chargers are cool, but even the ones that can put 350 kW of power into your battery don’t do that all the time. Suppose you have a Porsche Taycan. In theory, it should be able to draw up to 270 kW from one of those stations, which would make charging very fast. If you did a lot of separate tests, it didn’t even come close to that kind of flow of power. Even though it was still able to charge quickly, especially in the summertime, the amount of time spent plugged into a charger can be unpredictable.

Ambient temperature, battery size and make-up, and how much the charger itself can draw from the power grid all play a role in the speed at which a charger can charge a battery. This means that fast charging may not be as fast as advertised.

4. The location of the charge port is important.

It’s possible that you think, “These car designers know what they’re doing,” and you’re right most of the time, but not always. As far as why certain features and components are in the places they are, there’s always a reason. If, for example, the fuel door is on the driver’s side of one car, but on the passenger side of another, it could be different. A lot of the time, it comes down to which country a car was made for. The first is left-hand drive countries, like the United States, and the second is right-hand drive countries, like the United Kingdom and Japan. (Of course, sometimes it’s just a case of pure luck.)

When it comes to putting the charging port on the outside, not just any place will do. Because you can usually pull up to a gas pump from either side and with either side of the car, but not always. Take the curbside ones that are found in some downtown shopping areas. If your car’s charge port is on the driver’s side, you’re out of luck (unless, of course, it has a cable long enough to reach).

There are also situations where being in the right place could be a problem.  When you drive the Porsche Taycan, there are charge ports on both sides of the car. When you drive the Kia Niro EV, the charge port is right in front so you can get to it no matter where the car is parked.

5. Even with AWD, you can’t avoid winter tyres.

Even if the electric vehicle you’re thinking about has all-wheel drive and a big battery under the hood, you still need winter tyres. This isn’t just true for electric cars, but it’s worth going over again anyway.

It doesn’t help you slow down any faster to send all that electric torque to more wheels. If anything, you’ll notice the benefits of winter tyres even more with an electric car because of how quickly that torque gets to the wheels, even in a car like the Kia Niro. In fact, that five-door EV is a great example of why winter tyres are more important than all-wheel drive. It has a sense of surefootedness on winter rubber, even though it only has front-wheel drive.

This is not a reason to stay away from electric cars. These are just the things you might not have thought of yet. A lot of people don’t think about the downsides of electric cars until they have a lot of experience with them. There’s no better time than now to figure this out so you can enjoy that sweet, emissions-free drive.

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