I was thinking about how eloquent my thoughts are on the stupidity of changing motorised transport from running on petroleum to using batteries, listing some of my reasons in a previous article and concluding I must have been one of Einstein's grandfathers until a friend of mine delivered a strong stopper in the form of a YouTube video by that guy of Real Engineering but, thinking about it a little more, I think I still have a point.
Let me start with a bit of pettiness: I am not fond of toy cars. Toy cars are for babies. Offended? Good. You can go die with there if you want.
Now, this Real Engineering guy said EVs (battery-operated, just to be clear) are better on average than petroleum engines because of high grid efficiency, better energy conversion efficiency among other things which are all valid points.
However, he failed to note that there is no electricity grid currently installed on the planet that can sustain high domestic, industrial and motorised consumption as is. This is made worse by the fact that renewable energy sources are far from being able to sustain the grid as currently constituted, and EVs are going to add incredible strain to it.
Furthermore, the major economies pushing for EVs like the European Union are themselves heavily dependent on fossil fuels such as natural gas just to survive five months of winter. This, already, is a significant disadvantage considering that the Real Engineering guy said internal combustion engines which are what are used to generate electricity for the EU have a maximum efficiency of around 26%.
On top of that, the EU are a bunch of cowards and have refused to invest in nuclear energy which actually has a chance to sustain their grid as is and has room for rapid expansion to meet future needs.
I have not finished. When people charge their phones, they want to pump as much fire inside as possible to alleviate their anxiety over the prospect of batteries running out before they get their full doses of dopamine. This is similar to the phenomenon of range anxiety in EV operators, and therefore people will want to "charge their cars properly" so their batteries can "last longer". Some will even forget to turn off the socket when they unplug their cars. Obviously, this will cause wastage of grid electricity and increase some people's power bills and, less obviously, it will wear out many batteries faster because they are made of lithium and it has the stamina of a dead donkey.
I thought I was out of points. Hmmm.
Once you buy an EV, you will have to buy new batteries at some point. These will be very expensive, obviously. On top of that, Kenya Power is on your neck with immoral power bills and now you do not know whether to pay for electricity or a matatu instead.
The worst part is that the only part of the EV that will belong to you is the name written on your log book. The software is Google's, the hardware is Tesla's or Ford's and the right to repair it John Deere's. It is already that bad with some models of vehicles such as EVs and petroleum vehicles which lock the ass warmers on your seat because you "have not paid for it". What The Fuck.
I was wondering why OPEC and other committees of dirty hearts are not opposed to EVs. Whether EVs succeed or not, they will still have customers for their oil.
Another thing I forgot to think about quickly is the fact that, with EVs becoming smartphones that can carry people and cows, the fact of three-year obsolescence cycles will become inevitable and, obviously, expensive. This is not including expensive OEM batteries and cheap mchinku batteries which catch fire when you turn on the car.