The shift toward electric vehicles seems inevitable. However, despite the new incentives from the federal government to buy one, sales aren’t as brisk as expected. Some automakers have turned to bolstering their hybrid lineup to give consumers more options. It’s difficult to say which type will win out in the end, but it’s probably safe to assume some form of electrification will stick around.
A Look at Full Electric Vehicles
An EV model gets its power solely from a battery that has to be recharged after it’s depleted. These vehicles have at least one electric motor to keep them moving. The perceived environmental advantage of an EV is the lack of emissions from combustion. However, the power to charge an EV must come from somewhere, and in many cases, it’s still coming from burning coal.
For consumers, the advantage of an EV is fewer moving parts, which means less maintenance overall. EV models are quiet and accelerate smoothly, which may make them more relaxing to drive for some people. As many EV owners install chargers in their homes, it’s often easy to keep the EV charged and not have to worry about gas stations.
On the other hand, this effectively cuts off people who live in apartments and can’t have a dedicated charger from owning an EV. The public charging network is still a work in progress and can’t usually be counted on for a long road trip, for example.
Further, EV batteries are heavy, especially long-range batteries, which makes it hard on the EV’s tires and the road. There’s also the negative environmental impact of the materials that go into an EV battery and how easy they are to recycle.
Explaining Hybrids
Hybrids are sometimes described as the best of both worlds for efficiency and emissions. A hybrid vehicle combines an internal combustion engine with at least one electric motor that generates electricity when connected to the engine and recaptures energy through regenerative braking. The vehicle’s computer decides which power source to use in a particular situation.
Compared to a fully electric vehicle, hybrids have smaller batteries that only store the energy needed to assist the combustion engine. This means the negative environmental impacts are lower in various ways. Some plug-in hybrids also use larger batteries and can be recharged for longer periods of electric-only driving.
For drivers, hybrids may offer more peace of mind that they can still fill up with fuel while on a long road trip. It also allows those with apartments to own one and not worry about where to recharge, while still having a more efficient vehicle.
The Future of EVs
a few years ago, automakers seemed quite bullish on getting as many EVs to the market as possible. However, sales and interest have dimmed considerably since then, which has led to the postponement of several EV models that were supposed to be released soon. Instead, some automakers have turned to adding hybrid technology to more models. Some automakers, like Toyota, have barely touched the EV market.
These trends suggest that it might be hybrids that win out in the end until something more efficient comes along, such as the hydrogen fuel cell technology that’s being worked on.
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