With advancement in technology came some advancements in electric batteries in particular. Some companies, like Apple, throttling their own batteries in their cellular phones to increase sales. In turn, making these portable devices more and more disposable thus increasing sales. Sales is one of the primary forces driving the portable battery market and may hinder research and development into extending the life of these batteries. Without the necessary funding from private donors and government and university grants, extending life of the portable batteries may be a pipe dream. Consumers may clamor for a better battery life, but companies may lack the resources to provide it.

This is where it gets interesting — whether talking about electric cars, electric bikes or electric scooters. All these electric vehicles function on a much larger battery (actually batteries) than a cellular phone. Many electric vehicles operate out of from proprietary batteries and thus controlling their own manufacturing and sales pipelines. A standard would be nice, but it could potentially limit sales of said electric vehicle since it is immediately accessible to everyone and with a couple of Youtube videos, one could potentially be able to fix their own cars (much like the older cars like the 1950 Ford Mustang before they were aptly replaced with electric or hybrid versions.)

Another concern could potentially be the cost of chargers and time. Since there are three levels of charging on an electric vehicle, level 1, 2 and 3. Level 1 is the charging equipment that comes with the vehicle and takes about eight hours more or less. At levels 2 and 3, costs are incrementally more expensive. Level 2 chargers cost between $700 to $2,000. And the Level 3 chargers can cost between $15,000 to $30,000, potentially the cost of a used car and out of the reach of most people. The cost of the chargers and potentially of time are concerns with electric car batteries.

And with yet another concern is the complexity of the software and hardware for electric vehicles to operate. No longer is it viable for the common person to fix their own vehicles and thus reduce their own out-of-pocket costs. Majority of consumers are dependent on the corporations and their own propriety engineers (or those who taught how to fix either software or hardware problems) to fix those issues with them. Though it is incredibly profitable for the corporations, it is definitely not beneficial for the consumer long-term.

Another concern would be the state of the electric grid and potentially accessible charging spots for multiple vehicles. California has already experienced brown-outs as a result of their aggressive push for electric vehicles. At least in the United States, consumers could potentially suffer as electric vehicles take hold of the market. For now, it seems a viable option as there isn’t an imposition on the consumer or the corporations until 2032, and states can prepare for the upcoming demand. Meanwhile, the European Union has a target year of 2035. The consumers have a decade to prepare for the upcoming storm — of rising power costs, more costly vehicles (potentially), and perhaps more accessibility in a decade or so.

The last concern would be the safety of the electric batteries. They are not agreeable with salt, cold weather and other variables. Some of it could lead to unexpected or unintended explosions or fires. Some advancements have been made to make electric batteries safer but perhaps not enough has been done.

What do you think of electric vehicles? Are they the electric dream that you hoped for or are they a government imposition or corporate propaganda? Please feel free to express your thoughts below.