Cost of taking action: £/$/€ NIL
When thinking about how to broach the topic of electric cars on this site, we were faced with a dilemma. How could we encourage people to buy electric vehicles but describe the action as “an easy, simple one for individuals”? For most people buying a car is one of our largest purchases, and cannot be taken lightly.
So we decided to make our action a much easier, no-cost one, but still one which we think will lead to more electric vehicles being leased or purchased instead of petrol or diesel. The action is simply to do some reading – to educate yourself about the true advantages and disadvantages of electric cars and dispel a few myths.
When it comes to buying a car, electric vehicles are increasingly competing with petrol and diesel (IC – internal combustion) in terms of performance. Also, the price gaps are shrinking. Many countries have announced bans on IC cars and small vans in the not-too-distant future (2030 in the UK, for example) but the sooner consumers learn more and shift to thinking electric the sooner governments will have to invest in electricity infrastructure, and the greater the chance of car manufacturers complying with the bans early.
Educating yourself will mean that when you do buy or replace a car, you will be better informed and able to make the best choice for your own circumstances without being bamboozled by technicalities or the glossy marketing used by the auto industry.
Of course, switching to electric is cleaner all round, and massively reduces carbon emissions and air pollution. Car use accounts for about a quarter of fossil fuel use so there is no doubt that swapping makes environmental sense – but we have to make informed choices.
Here are a few links to get you started:
Wikipedia entry “electric cars”
RAC feature on EVs (Royal Automobile Club)
AA feature on EVs (Automobile Association)
All of these include links to more in depth articles and further information.
Enjoy! Oh, and if as a result you do decide to go electric, please let us know – tag us on your social media!