The motivation for electric vehicles: Conclusion
First written in 2023Conclusion
After a decade of use, the first generation of mass-market lithium-ion battery-powered household electric passenger cars have successfully met the needs of users and basically achieved all of the original design goals. More importantly, these autos have provided valuable experience for the design and manufacture of electric vehicles (EVs) and promoted the full popularization of electric household passenger cars. This car is still very convenient as a local short-distance daily transportation tool. For longer-term use in the future, a reasonable solution for a power battery replacement is needed. This is also an important structural problem in the current development of electric vehicles, which requires more research. (There are relatively reliable structural ways for dealing with the recycling and continued use of traction batteries, which currently need more extensive and powerful practical promotions.)
I would like to emphasize once again that if the aforementioned technical research cannot achieve structural results as soon as possible, electric vehicles will be replaced or reused like internal combustion vehicles until they are scrapped, which will lead to great waste. Except for the traction battery, the working life of the other systems on electric vehicles is much, much longer than that of internal combustion vehicles.
Postscript: Public health statistics in the United States show that the number of deaths from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning caused by prolonged heating in internal combustion passenger cars remains high every winter, and remains more common in the cold, northern states. Likewise, for a long period of time, carbon monoxide poisoning by household heating or from the exhaust gas from ICE cars in closed passenger compartments or garages remains by far a very common method of suicide in the United States each year. This is very uncommon in other parts of the world.
As electric vehicles become more popular, this phenomenon and this method will hopefully be gradually reduced.