“Why EV?! Because it’s here whether you like it or not!”
I have had countless discussions over the past few months with distributors, contractors, end users, friends and family regarding EV vehicles and EV charging.
All these conversations seem to have one thing in common, inevitably we end up discussing:
“Are EV cars any good?”
“Are EV cars ready for prime time”?
“I love my current car; I don’t want an EV!”
“EVs are not really going to take over for gasoline vehicles, so why would I want to install a charger?”
The year was 1899, there were 21 million horses in the U.S. and only about 4,000 automobiles. That means that at my great grandparent’s dinner table, were they having similar conversations to those we are having today?
“There is no chance that the automobile will become popular, they are louder, more expensive to maintain, break down and aren’t as nimble around the small city streets that we have!”
Perhaps those very words were spoken at family’s dinner tables across the country. Well, turns out that cars got quieter, cheaper, more reliable and that small street issue was solved by enlarging roads. So, the transition took place, even if there were naysayers.
By 1915, the carriage industry had been positively overtaken by the automobile industry. In 1935 only a few thousand buggies were manufactured and those were mostly for rural areas.
An excellent history of how the United States went from a horse powered economy to fossil fuel can be read here: Transportation in America and the Carriage Age
See a parallel between the transition from horse to automobile and now from ICE (internal combustion engine) to electric?
I will not simply dismiss the many questions and concerns that the public has today with EVs. A solid education in the technology as well as the ability to look towards the foreseeable future improvements of this technology will help anyone understand that whether you like it or not, EVs are here to stay.
Do not get me wrong, I still love the feeling of shifting through the gears, hearing the rumble of the motor, and smelling those exhaust fumes, but the next generations will not appreciate those things as much as I do. Is it sad? Maybe. Just like I am sure for my great grandparents, the feeling of riding their horse and being connected with nature was important to them. I guess that’s what it is going to be like for EVs. Kids getting their licenses in the future will want an EV because its faster, handles better, safer, cheaper, and more reliable compared to the gas cars we are driving today.
So why EV? Well, it’s the future. It’s not a discussion anymore, it’s the clear future. It’s here to stay. That’s why you need to install EV charging stations NOW.
To read more about breezEV chargers and their technology click here.