Five things we HATE about electric cars (by the people who love them) / Electrifying

It won't come as a surprise to you to learn that we love electric cars, but even we admit there are some shortcomings – we like to be balanced and transparent, you see.

If you're thinking about making the switch to an electric car, there are some important things you need to know – and we know that electric cars aren't for everyone just yet.

The electric car world is changing at such a pace we actually hope this video dates very quickly, because if it does it'll show that things are moving in the right direction.

So sit back and watch the five things we HATE about electric cars, brought to you by the people who LOVE them.

Agree or disagree with us? Leave your comments below.

00:00 Intro
02:05 Range
05:07 Charging
11:10 Cost
14:48 Owners
17:03 EV Bulls**t

Thanks for joining us on our journey to 'Clear the Air' around hybrid and electric cars, we have new videos arriving every week (a mix of studio explainers and road tests) so please subscribe to the channel to find out more!

And please let us know what you'd like to see us film or talk about, we'd love to hear from you.

FOLLOW US:

[Richard-ioxe]

How is it that in 2021, Ecotricity are still allowed to get away with strangling the rollout of EVs with their abysmal network of single unit crappy super-unreliable ancient chargers. The govt need to step in and run them out of town.

[mikeselectricstuff]

AC public chargers are useful anywhere people spend a couple of hours or more - hotels, retail parks, restaurants etc. The big plus is they are very cheap to install, though this has sometimes resulted in them being installed in inappropriate places where a couple of rapids would be more useful than a dozen AC points.

[alexc]

I own a Tesla and I had a bad charging experience. I travelled to Europe to visit my sick parents and parked my car at Washington (DC) Dulles Airport. The parking garages there have free of charge Level 2 charging and I was able to use the J-1772 adapter that came with my car. While I was away, the temperature fell below 39 degrees F. What happens below that temp is that the charger port automatically unlocks in order to avoid issues as temperatures get close to freezing. Someone came and unplugged my car and stole my adapter (worth $95 new). What’s worse is that Sentry Mode didn’t record it!! Luckily, there was no damage to my car. This is the one bad public charging experience I have had. Luckily, I charge at home 99.9% of the time :)

[colinsuter]

Loved your channel and have now subscribed. When we first bought our EV e-Niro last October 2020, we got the usual sneery neighbour who said: “I suppose you Greenies want me to give up my Petrol Car to save the world, do you?”
I replied: “At the age of 76, I’m a bit too old to join Greens, Reds, or even Purples. And as far as wanting you to give up your car, please don’t. Because every time you fill up your fuel tank with petrol you are paying the government an amazing amount of tax. You are also paying VehicleTax, Congestion Charge - you name it. I don’t. In fact the local Sainsbury’s offers me free electric charging which pays for every trip I make there.
Carry on whilst I save enough to pay the difference in cost between an EV and a Gas Guzzler”.

[QT]

Agree about Ecotricity. Bloody terrible. I had to sleep in my EV over night once because of Ecotricity. Every charger on the M6 were out of service and the only alternative I could find within a 30 miles radius was a 7kW charger.

[AleksandarStefanovic]

This video was really fun to listen to, and I think it's healthy to look at both sides of the argument, can't improve without acknowledging the shortcomings!

[bryanduncan]

I'm so glad you bought up (some) EV owners!

The amount of abuse you get online for not agreeing with the Tesla fanboys is amazing!

I actually got a death threat from someone on Twitter for suggesting that buying an EV is not for everyone!

[ms-keos]

Best car channel on YT. Three knowledgeable, entertaining presenters who work really well together. The Taycan review made me laugh more than any other car vid.
As for EV charging in the UK, we need more rapid chargers across a genuinely national network. Look at Zapmap and there are huge swathes of mostly empty white space. One solution could be to get the supermarkets involved (perhaps by making installation tax deductible) especially if that includes the Co-op as they specialise in smaller stores in rural market towns.
As for the shambolic payment methods, this is where central government has to step in and force providers to make ALL rapid chargers available on a pay-charge-go basis.

Keep up the good work, Electrifying!

[micheleheynes]

This was all good points.

I can't use the any other country, but South Africa as a reference.

1. Range - 150mi (240km) isn't or normal long ranges that we drive. More like 500 to 1000mi (800 to 1600km) are our normal long range driving. It's rare if a long distance trip is done, that it is under our normal ranges. Traveling to work on the other hand, my average was around 20mi, so within the UK studies. Very few people travel these distances to and from work, with the normal distances being between 35 to 50mi for a work trip in Cape Town. Someone I work with travels between 30 and 35mi one way, so maybe 70mi a day just for work. Gaauten / Johannesburg, you lucky to travel less then 70mi a day.

For me in Cape Town an EV would be a perfect proposition, and my ICE the better option for long distances. (Coming back to this)
2. You said charging right. I'm from Cape Town, on one of our National roads traveling North, there is only one fast charger (N7), so one near Langebaan. Been there but couldn't find it. The N1, the longest national road that is about 2000km (1250mi), every 150 of km there are fast charger. Not done yet, haven't seen them our capable of finding them. If they can be found easy, according the infrastructure map, they are all, 1 x CCS with a Type 2. So making convoy traveling with EV's difficult, if not impossible.
3. Price. The cheapest new EV here is the Mini Cooper SE, and we have two specs. The cheapest being a bit more than 4x an entry level vehicles price, 3x a Ford Fiesta price. The highest spec Mini basically the same price as the BMW i3, 5x an entry level, but with the add ons 4x a Fiesta's price. The next choice with a good range will be the Jaguar I-Pace, and even more shockingly priced the Porsche Taycan. Just what we have to deal with here.
4. EV Converts. The religion of EV's aren't a thing here yet. I've told myself my next car will be an EV. If someone is going to tell me that I'm using coal power, uhm correction people. The Western Cape's primary power station is Koeberg which is Nuclear, and here I can hear someone shouting, what if it blows, well, I'm far enough away to survive a blast. The secondary power station here is the Steenbras Dam, so hydropower. NOT COAL POWER, THAT IS SOMEWHERE ELSE. And some farmers have wind turbines and others solar. Dangerous really, okay the Nuclear will be dangerous if it explodes for the environment, but it has been going for over 50 years.
5. Let's call this the haters category. EV's will never work for me groups. Yes, like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, The Right Brothers. See, I'm using people in the forefront of development. With each technology developed, there will be people that look at it as if you are crazy for trusting it, by they will want to drive a car at 150mi, but they can't even be trusted to drive a car, let alone a bicycle, as they are walking disasters. The fear of progress, as with my mother of 77, refusing to get a new cellphone, as her Samsung Galaxy of 5 years old is working and she can comfortably make calls. Refuses to use any social media platform for communication, not that it's the devil's work, just she feels she is too old, and her older sister is making jokes about her inability to go with the times on certain technological thing. Yes, an 82 year old is making fun of a 77 year old.

I would personally love the Mini Cooper SE, if I can manage to drive 50mph on a longish distance drive, 130mi. It should work perfectly, but the door configuration is a problem for everyone around me. The i3, I have the problem of the tire sizes, weird and availability. Let's ignore the elephant and the sperm whale in the room, the pricing. We are not of average range drivers. We do sometimes drive the normal long range distances, but that is so far apart, that both the cars mentioned would work, while annoying other road user, as the national speed limit of 120kph (75mph) is rarely adhered too, and you find people speeding past you at 100mph if not faster, where I have found after decades of driving with a license, 62mph is fast enough. Just more of an adjustment to conserve power. To get me the car I want will take savings, robbing the bank and savings, or just multiple streams of income, as a Mini is a luxury price for cars here, but that SE has my name on it.

I enjoy watching the reviews, as it has taken away my fears of the future of EV's. According to an internet search 76 locations, with 88 charging points and the majority of the CCS under 60kWh capabilities nationally, of which 6 to 10 are in the Western Cape, more than 50% are in Johannesburg. I'm still looking forward to when a long distance trip would be as easy as going to a filling station, or planning a vacation with destination chargers to explore the country.

[stanthompson]

this was very enjoyable. it was like watching a 1/2 hr. t.v. show without commercials

[genestatler]

I just found your YT site and I love the format. Nice and friendly and personal. So, I subscribed.

[timcostello]

Another super informative and real world summary on the potential downsides of owning an EV. All of the videos you produce are helping me to make an informed decision on my first EV purchase at some point this year. I must say that on balance and despite the hefty price, I cannot see why that purchase would not be a Tesla due to the overwhelming power of their charging network. Mmmm thanks again team electrifying

[ThePlugSeeker]

Great and fun video. Even as a staunch pro-EV enthusiast that you probably know I am .... I have to agree with most of this. Couple small points, as per my 3 part series in Ecotricity (shameless plug!) I would point out the U.K. motorway services is not just one company but 3, MOTO, Welcome and RoadChef. It is I think if memory serves the MOTO contract that got renewed for 10 yrs a couple years back. Not sure when other two are due to be reviewed. Another small point i would disagree with is that you miss the point of 7kW chargers IMHO. They are not there to refill 0-80% in most cases, but to facilitate “grazing” where an EV driver stops for 1-2 hrs doing something else and just adds 20-25% charge while car is doing nothing. Also there for emergencies if running very low, an hour may give enough to get home or to next charge if REALLY stuck.

[BikerForJustice]

First off, thank you for your channel - it’s great.
Second, I want to put an end to narratives I keep hearing.
1) stop with the environmental tree hugger aspect - I live with an electric car and it’s quick, it’s fun, absolutely would get another (my views are as a car guy and not a earth first guy)
2) the range of 200 mi (in that ballpark) is perfectly useful. We don’t need 400 mi cars. With my gas vehicles I mostly filled 1/2 tank or roughly 200 mi
3) stop with talking electric super cars - most people don’t and wont be dropping 1/4 million on a car !
4) charging in a normal outlet at home is very useful. With roughly 80-100 miles to charge, go to bed and wake up - bingo 100% charged and ready.

[johng]

I cant charge at home as I live in a terraced street in London, but the council is arranging for BPPulse 7kw post to be installed. Over the past year its been great but I think as more people see the cars on charge they are also converting from ICE. In time every street will need 7/11kw chargers on every street. We also have some chargers in street lamps (3 or 5 kw) but they are harder to get onto as they are in resident bays. Its early days but the rate of installation will have to increase across the country. We only need rapids en route. If there are slower posts at the destination thats fine for an overnight top up.

[marktoby]

I've owned an EV for about 3 years now. Started off with a 30kwh Leaf, & now have a 64kwh Kona. The Leaf had me using the public network a lot, & involved chargers that weren't working, & more often than not having to wait for a charger to become available. Thankfully with Kona in the last 12 months I've had to use the network just once! Range on my Leaf just seemed to drop like a stone when the weather got cold, or (heaven forbid!) I was in a hurry, and had to the use the motorway & close to the speed limit. Again though, Kona is a different story, I feel even on the coldest day I could get 360km of range out of it. Now I have an EV with a useful real world range, I don't think I'll ever go back to an ICE vehicle.

[BH_London]

Good video as always! I’ve had EV’s since 2014 and my main bugbear is STILL Ecotricity. The government need to step in and force them out

[rayphot]

My own (weekly) commute to work is 224 miles each way, 95% of which is on motorways. After a week in work I drive home on a Friday night, spend the weekend at home, then travel back to base on a Sunday night. I haven't got an electric car yet as I would have to either a) rely on ecotricity on the motorway or b) spend over 30k for a car with the range to do it in one hit. I'm in this job for another 18 months so for the moment my Honda Civic Diesel does the job quite nicely, and I will revisit what car to have once I've left this job. I did consider leasing one, but the costs for 18 months are quite high. I have bought myself an electric motorbike though (Zero S) which I absolutely love, so I am used to very slow public charging via Type 2. My next car will definitely be an EV, but it will be a few more years before I get one.

[yvs]

what do u mean 7kW chargers are pointless? they r just enough to charge most EVs back up in the duration of a concert and are usually free where i am from. also, regarding range: i might be in the minority but the range of the average ev nowadays would actually be enough to get as far as ive ever driven in a car. (yes, i live in a small country and don't travel much, whyuask ::P)

[antonioblayney]

Great show, always good to see the presenters. I've petrolhead for a long time now. but you guys have converted me into an electric cars.