Why ICE cars are aging and EVs are taking over

in #technology7 years ago (edited)

For the past century and a half, We've relied on vehicles like cars, trucks, semi-trucks, bikes and buses for our day to day travel. With recent technological developments there's been a trend towards electrifying cars and making them smarter, which helps reduce total amount of emissions that are harmful for environment meanwhile making them much more reliable with autonomy.
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Parking lot accidents

Fuel and Engine

For last two decades there's been a rise in battery capacity, storing more energy while narrowing down the size. This has enabled us to use high-density batteries as a source of fuel in vehicles like cars and trucks. This also makes the process of manufacturing a car a lot simpler than traditional ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) cars as it doesn't require complicated engines and transmissions but rather an induction motor and battery pack. Electric Vehicles also have high performance and instant torque because of simple circuit powering motor from battery where as an ICE engine has to counter the lag of pumping fuel and for combustion to take place to generate motion. motor.png
Tesla induction motor
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ICE engine parts

Efficiency and Environment

An average ICE car uses about 17%-21% of the energy generated in combustion as output in motion, the rest is wasted as heat and unburnt fuel in exhaust. Battery packs on the other hand are much more efficient using about 59-62% of the energy stored via grid power. Although in certain temperatures and weather conditions it might vary but EVs are still much more efficient at use of energy than ICE cars. What that results for a consumer is lower fuel costs and a great chunk of yearly savings.
EVs do not require consistent maintenance over short time periods, while on the other hand ICE cars require maintenance over short time period. ICE cars have more engine parts so there's a high chance of failure for each and every added component, EVs benefit from this as there are less parts required, there's a lower chance of failure. This all makes up for the high price initially paid by the consumer for Electric Vehicles in the long run, saving consumers a lot in cost of maintenance and fuel.
Because there is no combustion in EVs, there's no output of gases through exhaust. Due to recent climate changes, people have become more cautious of pollution which in result has discouraged the want for ICE cars, increasing demand for Electric Cars. The world is moving towards sustainable energy with solar and wind powered electricity which is further boosting the appeal for EVs in the near future.
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ICE car exhaust
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Solar powered charger

Autonomy and Capacity

EVs are not just quick, environment friendly vehicles that save you money on maintenance and fuel but rather come with a unique set of features never seen in a conventional car before. Autonomy is one of the most intriguing feature of new Electric Cars, the cars have a set of sensors and cameras all around through which a built-in smart system is able to study surrounding environment and let the car move autonomously without any Driver input. Autonomy is still in its early stages but its on the rise and cars will be fully autonomous before an average person could see it coming, Tesla's autopilot is one of the most appealing feature for its customers if not the most appealing. Autopilot is greatly advanced than cruise control on ICE cars and is a form of self-awareness for the car. Believe it or not, all cars will embrace autonomy in the near future and owning a car without it would be like owning a horse, sure you can ride it if you feel like but you wouldn't prefer to travel a lot in it.
ICE cars struggle in this segment because the whole front or rear space is compensated for the engine, which leaves a very little room for everything else to fit in, also autonomy requires quick reaction times which are not possible due to engine lag and difficulty of control over all the input variables (fuel, air, road disruptions or pot holes).
EVs have a low center of gravity because of the battery pack secured to the bottom, which leaves room in the front for more space. This space also helps make car the car safe in case of a crash, the front area absorbs most of the shock while in a front engine ICE car this area is soaked up by all the engine parts, leaving a little to no room for absorbing the shock of car crash.
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Tesla Model S frunk
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ICE car front engine

Charging Stations vs Gas Stations

If you are someone living in an urban city and need no more than 200 mile of range for a day, chances are you're better off with and Electric car as you can leave it overnight to charge while you sleep, this will save you the precious 5 minutes of time that you might spend refueling an ICE car at Gas Station. If you're planning to travel for a long distance trip, Tesla(EV car manufacturer) is up in sleeves with the big guns with their supercharging network, for every 100 mile radius there are at least 3 operating super chargers. Considering you're comfortable with spending 30 minutes to wait for the car to charge up after a hundred and fifty miles, you'll really enjoy travelling in a Tesla car. It is more 'tedious' than refueling an ICE car on a long journey but hey if you're stopping for a break anyway it doesn't hurt, specially considering that supercharging is free for lifetime for Tesla Model S and X shipped up until may 2017, it is still free for lifetime if an existing Tesla owner refers you which to be honest isn't hard to find.
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Tesla Supercharger
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Gas station

There is no doubt that EVs are a fresh breath of air with all the conventional ICE cars crowding our planet, Sure there's a few problems that come along if you start nitpicking but the future holds much more value for EVs than ICE cars. It is just a matter of how long it takes us to adopt to this new technology.

Disclaimer : Everything written above is opinion of the writer supported with facts and proofs, any mistake or error that you may find inappropriate should be mentioned in comments it'll be edited out if the information provided by the article is incorrect. All images are cited to their original sources, I do not hold any license of their ownership.