The Arrival of the Electric Car: Buyer's Guide, Owner's Guide, History, Future

By Chris Johnston and Ed Sobey

Are you considering buying an electric vehicle? All of us are witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime transformation. For over one hundred years, gasoline and diesel fuels have powered ground transportation throughout the world. Now that is changing, and 2023 is the year when most people will recognize that change is happening. This book is a comprehens

• Language: English
• Publisher: SAE International
• Release date: Jan 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781468605037

Chris Johnston

Chris Johnston has decades of product management experience in telematics, mobile computing and wireless communications including positions at Trimble Navigation, AT&T, Honeywell and a couple of Silicon Valley startups. He also spent a year in India setting up an Internet-of-things practice for a major Indian corporation. Mr. Johnston has a B.S. in electrical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago. Chris lives in Washington State with his wife and two kids. When not working, he enjoys open water swimming, cycling and flying (as a private pilot).

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The Arrival of the Electric Car

Buyer’s Guide, Owner’s Guide, History, Future

BY

CHRIS JOHNSTON AND ED SOBEY

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Warrendale, Pennsylvania, USA

The Arrival of the Electric Car

Front Matter

Print ISBN: 978-1-4686-0501-3

eISBN: 978-1-4686-0503-7

DOI: 10.4271/R-534

The Arrival of the Electric Car

Buyer’s Guide, Owner’s Guide, History, Future

Copyright © 2023 SAE International. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of SAE International. For permission and licensing requests, contact SAE Permissions, 400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001 USA; e-mail: [e-mail]; phone: [phone].

Library of Congress Catalog Number 2022950489

http://dx.doi.org/10.4271/9781468605020

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Brandon Joy

This book is dedicated to Skye and Spencer.

It always seems impossible until it is done.

—Nelson Mandela

Foreword

Electric vehicles (EVs) are fascinating. In fact, I would bet they are just as fascinating to drivers today as they were when the first ones were invented over 100 years ago. I know that this topic does not get boring because I have written thousands of articles about EVs over the last decade and a half. I have covered everything from the very beginning of Tesla to the work that the EV activists from Plug In America did to turn California into the EV leader it is today to the slow but steady progress EVs have made toward the mainstream. In fact, let me double down on that bet: I think EVs are more fascinating now than they were a century ago. And everything I have seen points to another 100 years of fascinating, zero-emission rides.

Personally, it has been fascinating to cover advances in EVs for everyone from The New York Times to Car and Driver to blogs dedicated to green transportation. The news never ends, which is exciting. I remember the days when we talked about the first-generation Nissan LEAF being able to go over 100 miles on a charge if the driver was careful and the conditions were right. And now here we are wondering if the 200+ miles in the Polestar 2 will be enough.

Of course, it is, but not everyone gets it at the same pace. Over the years, I have learned there are three main types of people who develop an interest in EVs, but people can easily fall into multiple categories.

A friend once jokingly called the first group cashed-up greenies. These are people who are willing and able to spend a bit extra to put their environmental values into action. Especially in the 1990s and 2000s, buying an EV—or converting a gas vehicle to battery power—was an expensive proposition. But these early advocates quickly discovered there was more to driving electric than doing less damage to the environment.

Which is why so many of them joined the second category: the performance folks. It is thrilling to be behind the wheel of an EV, and the first time I drove a Tesla Roadster back in 2008 or so, it blew my little blogger mind. The thrill of instant torque is no joke, and automakers are finally starting to realize this side of EVs in the way they market and sell their vehicles. Looking at you, Porsche Taycan.

Which brings us to the third category: you, i.e., everyone. Yes, despite the prevalence of internal combustion vehicles on the road today, the segment of the population that can afford an EV is growing. Prices are coming down, used EVs are a real option and there are a number of programs in the United States focused on getting zero-emission EVs into the hands of average drivers and car shoppers. Two of the big issues that may have kept buyers away in the past have changed in the last few years. Range is less and less of an issue and more and more body styles are going electric. You can buy plug-in sedans, wagons, SUVs, and pickup trucks in North America right now. While this book focuses on the EVs you can buy in North America—where more than three dozen are available—the number of EVs available in other parts of the world, including China, is mind boggling. I have rarely been as amazed walking through an auto show as I have in Shanghai or Guangzhou in recent years. There I saw not just a fair number of models I had never heard of but entire brands that were new to me. It was, well, fascinating.

Those experiences were also proof that something big is happening. EVs have not seen the constant development that gasoline and diesel vehicles had throughout the 20th century, thanks to the cheap reliability of fossil fuels and the never-ending challenge of convincing people to try something new. Thankfully, now that the EV R&D dark ages are coming to an end and automakers around the world are charging up their EV programs, there is no doubt that we are about to see massive, valuable change in our transportation landscape.

All signs point to 2023 being a transformational year for EVs. This book is a guide to the fascinating world that is coming. Read it and be ready.

Sebastian Blanco

Freelance Writer

@SebastianBlanco

sebastian-blanco.com

Sebastian Blanco has been writing about electric vehicles since 2006. The New York Times, Forbes, Car and Driver, Automotive News, Reuters, Autoblog, InsideEVs, Trucks.com, and NPR’s Car Talk listen to his advice and publish his articles. Since the launch of the Tesla Roadster, he has been America’s voice tracking the shift away from gasoline-powered vehicles to electric vehicles.

Introduction and Key Takeaways

We wrote the first edition of The Arrival of the Electric Car to be a comprehensive, fact-based encouragement for people to switch to battery electric vehicles (BEVs). A major motivation was the sense that the industry was at the cusp of an inflection point. As luck would have it, our timing could not have been any better. Our book was published in November of 2020, and in February 2021, seven electric vehicle (EV) commercials during the Super Bowl accounted for a record $6.5 million in ads spent for thirty-second commercial spots. Even more compelling, EVs accounted for 7.2% of global car sales in the first half of 2021, up from a meager 2.6% in 2019 to a 177% increase in two years. This uptake is unprecedented in the history of the automotive industry. At the end of this introduction, we list some of the most compelling things you will read in our book.

When Chris first sat in an electric car, it was clear that it had not been designed in Detroit or Bavaria. It was clean and modern looking but also comfortable and inviting. During the first drive, he was delighted by the silence and how well he could hear the stereo. Most of all, he was shocked by the acceleration.

It was not just the acceleration, but the instant response—something that you simply do not experience in a gasoline-powered car due to mechanical lag. He felt much more in control because of how smoothly it accelerated and how well the power steering responded.

Now, after three years of owning it, he still looks forward to every drive. The transition from his beloved gasoline-powered car to his EV brought to mind the change from using a BlackBerry keyboard to an iPhone screen. At first, there was a little apprehension, but after a day, there was no way he was going back to the old phone.

Now, the thought of having to go back to gas stations or the hassle of oil changes makes him cringe like the thought of having to go from a smartphone back to a flip phone. Many EV owners tell the same story.

They tell us the price is right. The driving range is not a concern. They love the modern design. They have made the switch, and they are not going back.

All of us are witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime transformation. For over 100 years, gasoline and diesel fuels have powered ground transportation throughout the world. Now that is changing, and 2023 is the year when most people will recognize that change is happening.

Ed, at first, approached driving an EV with some apprehension. He did not get the concept of one-pedal driving: You’ve got to have a brake! Also, the instantaneous and lightning quick acceleration grabbed his attention immediately. We should note that his EV does have an actual brake pedal even though you can perform one-pedal driving.

Now, as the one-year owner of an EV, he loves driving it. When forced to drive a gasoline-powered rental car, he misses both the one-pedal driving and acceleration.

For me, driving an EV without using the brake pedal is a challenge. I try to complete each trip without touching the brake. Very quickly after buying an EV my skill level increased so I could lighten the pressure on the accelerator at the right moment to coast to a stop at traffic lights, Ed reports.

I think I’m a better driver when driving an EV. One safety aspect I hadn’t considered before owning an EV is acceleration. Entering an on-ramp in a cluster of other cars, I can accelerate away from them and get into open space on a highway. So far, I haven’t gotten a speeding ticket.

I tend to leave more space from the car ahead of me so I don’t have to touch the brake pedal. I can make up the distance instantly when the light changes due to the superior acceleration, Ed reports.

We wrote this book to share our excitement and what we have learned about EVs. Our goal is to be objective, nonpolitical, and data-driven. What would you expect from authors who are an engineer and a scientist?

Although we describe EV variants like hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV), this buyer’s guide is focused on the North American mass market for BEVs, also referred to as pure EVs. In 2020 and prior, there were a handful of EVs on the North American market. With more than 25 mass-market EVs from which to choose, 2023 promises to be another breakout year.

Key Takeaways

Here are some of the most compelling things you will read in our book. Treat this section as a sneak preview.

Cost of Ownership: A gasoline-powered vehicle will cost almost eight times more to operate and maintain than a comparable EV. EV owners never have to buy gasoline and never have to get oil changes. Their brakes last about 170,000 miles. They do not have to pay for tune-ups, replace spark plugs, water pumps, and fuel pumps, or a variety of other maintenance items.

Reliability: Due to their engineering simplicity, EVs are far more reliable than gasoline-powered vehicles. EVs have far fewer moving parts in their drivetrains than cars with internal-combustion engines (ICEs). More parts, and especially more moving parts, mean more potential points of failure.

When it comes to batteries, Consumer Reports estimates that EV batteries should last 200,000 miles.

Why Now? Why are we seeing an EV revolution now? EVs have overcome their three major challenges of range, price, and styling.

Preparing to Own an EV: It is easier than you think to prepare your home to charge an EV.

Comparison of Carbon Footprints: An oft-mentioned narrative is that the carbon footprint to manufacture EV batteries is so high that it negates the environmental benefits of purchasing one. The reality is that, over a 200,000 mile life, the average light-duty gasoline-powered vehicle has a carbon footprint that is more than two and a half times larger than the average light-duty EV.

History: