EVs Do Make Sense

To the editor:

Last week’s letter, “EVs Don’t Make Sense,” contained a lot of misleading information. The writer listed seven points, and I would like to address them.

1. Range Anxiety: Yes, there is range anxiety, and like most anxieties, once you get firsthand experience, it tends to go away. The first time my wife and I planned a 1,000-mile cross-country trip in our EV from La Grange to the Smoky Mountains, I was very worried. Our EV was new and had a stated range of a little over 300 miles. However, it didn’t take long for that anxiety to fade as our car’s software planned the route, showed every stop we needed to make, and directed us straight to every charger. We have made the trip four times now, taking different routes (I-10, I-20, and I-40). Every charger worked every time. Admittedly, these were Tesla chargers, which have the highest- rated reliability. (More on that later.)

We also use the car to routinely travel to Houston, Austin, and College Station and can make the round trip without charging. If we do need to charge for some reason, there are numerous chargers along these routes in each of these towns and in between, such as in Giddings, Bastrop, Columbus, and Katy. (If you are curious, just look for Tesla Superchargers on Google Maps.)

2. Length of Charge: Most current long-range models can add about 200 miles of charge in 15 minutes when charging between 20% and 80%. Charging from 80% to 100% takes as much time as charging from 20% to 80%. So yes, if you charge to 100%, it can take 30 minutes as the writer stated, but we typically don’t do that because it doesn’t make sense. In most cases, by the time we use the restroom, get coffee, and a snack, the car is charged enough to go another two or three hours until we need another break. However, I mostly charge at home, and it takes me less than 10 seconds to plug it in and 10 seconds to unplug it, so there is really no waiting, and I never smell like gas.

3. Electrical Charge is Generated by Coal, Oil, or Gas, Since 60+% of Electricity in the US is Generated Using Fossil Fuels: This statement is true but misses the point. Even if an EV were powered entirely by a coal-fired power plant, the dirtiest fossil fuel, it would still be greener than an internal combustion engine (ICE) car. Here’s why: EVs are significantly more energy- efficient on the road, with only about 31-35% energy loss compared to 75-84% in ICE vehicles. Even factoring in coal as the electricity source, EVs still have a lower carbon footprint.

4. America’s Power Grid Can’t Support a Full Transition to EVs: This is partially true but also misleading. The power grid in the US at any point in time has rarely been able to support long-term future power needs, but that didn’t mean we would not be able to build what was necessary. For example, in 1973, US electricity consumption was only 1,600 TWh, which grew almost linearly to over 6,000 TWh in 2021. Do you really think the grid in 1973 could support the demand in 2021? (A bit of a side note, currently MIT estimates that cryptocurrency mining consumes 110 TWh of electricity annually, more than the current electricity demand from EVs.)

5. Lacking Crucial Materials... America Does Not Have Access to the Lithium, Cobalt, etc. Necessary for the Transition to EVs, With Most of Those Materials in the Hands of Our Adversaries: Lithium is the key raw material as the EV industry is quickly shifting to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries to avoid “conflict materials” such as cobalt. LFP batteries also offer several advantages, including better safety, longer lifespan, and the ability to be drained and fully charged with less degradation. Australia and Chile, friends to the US, produce about 80% of the world’s lithium, although much of the lithium refining capacity is currently done in China.

There are also new technologies being deployed in the US. For example, ExxonMobil is actively developing lithium extraction from brine wells in Arkansas. The company plans to use Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology, which is more environmentally friendly compared to traditional hard rock mining methods. The first production is targeted for 2027, with an aim to produce enough lithium to supply over a million EV batteries annually by 2030. This is one of several efforts to establish more comprehensive lithium processing capabilities within the United States to ensure the entire supply chain can be managed domestically.

6. Environmental Nightmare... Lithium Production Alone is So Toxic: Lithium extraction can have significant environmental impacts. However, as mentioned above, cleaner, lower-cost lithium extraction technologies are being commercialized.

7. Performance Drops SignificantlyinColdWeather. Just Ask Chicago Residents in January When Extreme Cold Made Charging Impossible and Charging Stations Became a Car Graveyard. Oh, Just an FYI, Heat Like Texas Also Significantly Degrades Battery Performance: Let’s address the Chicago comment first. There are two points here. The first is that some of the Chicago EV charging stations shown on the news had lost power due to utility power outages. Cars cannot charge, and gas stations cannot pump gas when the power is out. Second, EV batteries need to be preheated in very cold weather before charging. It takes a few minutes, and EVs (at least a Tesla) will do that automatically while on route if you direct them to an EV charger. If this is not done, the car will sit and preheat at the charging station before it starts charging, which is what we mostly saw on the news. It’s an easy error but one that is not likely repeated once they know.

An EV’s range is impacted by temperature. When the temperature is near freezing, the range can drop by about 20%. So, if your car had a 300-mile range, on those days when the temperature was around freezing, you would have about 240 miles of range, which in most of my use cases is plenty.

As for the Texas heat significantly degrading the battery, I have driven my EV for over 50,000 miles so far. The battery, which is warrantied for 120,000 miles, does not have any significant degradation. The only maintenance the car required so far is the addition of window washing fluid and new tires around 50,000 miles.

Finally, addressing the comment about Jim Farley, Ford CEO, stating he had a reality check when he undertook a cross-country road trip: At the time of his trip, Ford EVs could only use non-Tesla chargers, which were notoriously unreliable. Since that time, Ford, along with many other brands, have worked out deals with Tesla to use its 15,000 reliable fast chargers across the US.

EVs are more powerful, have more acceleration, and in my opinion, are just more fun to drive than an ICE car. They aren’t for everyone and do not fit every use case, but they will continue to get better and cheaper as battery prices decline, and the technology improves. Before you form an opinion, take a ride in an EV and have a conversation with someone who owns one.

Ian Julian La Grange