Electric Vehicles are Not a Fad
By Timothy J. Power, CEO
In last month’s Kansas Country living, you may have read the article about the three types of EV chargers. This month, we want to tell you about the three types of EVs and discuss the expected growth in the EV industry.
Dating all the way back to the early 1900’s, the history of electric vehicles (EVs) is marked by many stops and starts. For one reason or another EVs have never caught on with most of the millions of drivers across the US. Fast forward to today and we see an EV industry that is growing; in fact, it is growing so fast that it is expected to soon have equal market share as internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles1. But before I delve into that market forecast, I want to provide a little background on the three types of EVs.
In most cases, EVs that have been available in the US have been hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which run on gas, but also have an electric motor to complement the gas engine. The electric motor battery is constantly charged by the gas engine and vehicle brakes. HEVs are very fuel efficient, with most manufacturers advertising 40-60 mpg. The Toyota Prius is an example of a HEV.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) get slightly better gas mileage than HEVs, due to a larger battery. As the name implies, a PHEV requires you to charge the electric battery at home or at a commercial or community charging station. PHEVs are seen by many as a good transition vehicle from a regular gas vehicle to an electric vehicle. The Chevy Volt is an example of a PHEV.
But the EV industry is going to be dominated by the battery electric vehicle (BEV). These vehicles run completely on electricity from a large battery, which allows the vehicle to be driven 200-300 miles between charges, in most cases. BEVs are the most efficient EVs and often see gas-equivalent numbers around 100 mpg2! Examples of BEVs include the Nissan Leaf and the various Tesla models.
OK, so now let’s go back to the expected growth in the EV industry. This graph from evadoption.com is just one of many projections you can find of the fast-growing EV market. The growth is projected to happen for a variety of reasons. One reason is battery technology; it has advanced exponentially in the past decade and prices have come down1. Another reason for growth is infrastructure. More charging stations have been put in place across the US and thousands more are going to be built over the next few years3. But the most important reason for the expected growth is because every vehicle manufacturer has put in place an aggressive plan to move to an all-EV production4.
As witness to the manufacturers’ plans to move to EVs, consider the new EVs you can buy in 20225. These will add to the many EV models currently available, like the various Tesla, Volvo, and Volkswagen models. But the vehicle getting the most hype for next year is the Ford F150 Lightning. It already boasts of over 120,000 orders6. The truck has many attractive features, not the least of which are its range of 300 miles (with a 1,000 lb payload) and its ability to serve as a whole house backup generator!7
The EV industry is now here to stay. Times are a changing!
Next month, we will provide some EV resources that you might find helpful if you are considering an EV as your next vehicle.