Electric cars don’t have enough range 

The concern about being stranded with an uncharged car battery remains a barrier in the acceptance of electric vehicles. However, some people may be surprised to hear that their weekly driving hardly exceeds 100 km. In fact, according to a study by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the average European citizen has a daily travel range of 30-40km. Furthermore, the vast majority of city dwellers, namely 80%, only have a daily travel range of 15km. You read that correctly: 15km. Luckily, the majority of the car manufacturers producing electric vehicles advertise a range of 100km – 500km before the batteries need to be recharged. That would mean one charge per week or, depending on your electric car, one charge per month.

Concluding remarks: Today’s electric cars cater to a vast majority of daily driving needs.

The charging infrastructure isn’t good enough

Apart from charging your electric vehicle from the comforts of your own home, the EU-information platform EAFO documented that 28,377 publicly-accessible charging points were available at around 17,400 charging stations throughout Germany in 2019. 4,457 of these were rapid charging points located at 3,400 rapid charging stations. That is quite the step-up from previous years – so it is time to put an end to the chicken and egg problem that is keeping consumers from purchasing alternative fuel vehicles and companies from constructing recharging stations. A full list of all German charging stations and their locations can be found on the following internet portals:

• Chargemap
• GoingElectric
• E-Stations
• E-Tankstellen-Finder
• SmartTanken
• LEMNET
• Ladenetz.de
• Schnellladen.de
• Bundesnetzagentur

Concluding remarks: Nothing stands in the way of taking your electric car for a spin.

There aren’t many models to choose from

This was especially true in the early years of electromobility. In the last 18 months, however, the automotive landscape has changed significantly. All major car manufacturers are now offering at least one electric or hybrid vehicle in their assortment. In the 2019 market overview, Green Gear reported that 50 different electric vehicle models are currently available for purchase. The aoty® team is especially looking forward to seeing what this year’s IAA Exhibition (12^th – 22^ndSeptember in Frankfurt, Germany) has in store for tomorrow’s drivers.

An up-to-date list of current and future electric cars can be found here:

Concluding remarks: There is an electric car for everyone.

Electric vehicles take too long to charge

Similar to any other rechargeable battery, the length of time it takes to reach full capacity depends on the quality of the charger itself. This means that different charging points have different charging speeds. Yes, charging time for a full charge with AC charging technology is up to 8 hours. But (there is always a ‘but,’ isn’t there?) almost all electric vehicles have the technological capability to charge DC. If you charge your car with 50kW/h -140kW/h, the charging time is only approximately 30 minutes to an hour. The future is looking even brighter as the high-power store currently under development hopes to charge electric vehicles to 80% of their full charge in just 12-15 minutes. With this short charging time, the vehicles could cover 400km.

Concluding remarks: What do you mean electric vehicles take too long to charge?

Electric cars aren’t really “green”

Am I mistaken, or do I see a green electric car?

On a more serious note, this is a complex statement because although it bears some truth, it is taken slightly out of context. Yes, it is true that the manufacturing process of an electric car is more carbon intensive than producing a conventional car. However, battery electric cars (when charged from renewable energy sources) make up for their higher manufacturing emissions within 50-10,000km of driving by producing zero emissions.

Concluding remarks: Yes, I am definitely seeing a green electric car.

Electric car batteries cannot be recycled

Let me explain why this statement is incorrect:

1. Once Lithium-ion batteries are taken off the road, they are still capable of collecting and discharging electricity for another 7-10 years at 70-80% of their initial capacity. Renault for example, has batteries backing up elevators in Paris. If that isn’t cool, I don’t know what is.
2. Used Lithium-ion batteries are pulverized in recycling plants, extracting valuable raw materials for future use. The Belgian company Umnicore is one of the businesses capable of recycling around 35,000 electric vehicle batteries per year, extracting the raw material and producing new electric vehicle batteries out of them.

Concluding remarks: Who knew recycling could be so innovative and cool.