As more Americans buy electric vehicles, the pitfalls of owning such a car become clear, and one teenager in Florida just discovered a major problem firsthand.
Avery Siwinski, a 17-year-old student in St. Petersburg, was thrilled to join the ranks of electric car owners, thinking she not only was helping to save the environment but also was going to save a ton of money by avoiding high gasoline prices.
But not long after taking possession of her car, she was met with a major crisis unique to EV owners.
Siwinski told WTSP-TV in St. Petersburg she was excited when her parents bought her a used 2014 Ford Focus Electric from AutoNation Ford in Pinellas County. The car was like new with only 60,000 miles on it.
“It was fine at first,” she said. “I loved it so much. It was small and quiet and cute.”
We are not ready for electric cars to use as reliable, convenient transportation at this time. They are more of a novelty item for those that can afford them. Technology has not developed a vehicle that has the ability to compete with the internal combustion engine cars that fit our needs. Charging is time consuming and charging stations are not ready available. With the amount of coal fired and nuclear power plants that have been shut down, the power grid can’t supply enough electricity to sustain mass consumption for transportation. Also this country doesn’t have the huge amounts of lithium required to manufacturer the batteries needed in these vehicles, making us dependent on other countries as we currently are for oil. You tree huggers should examine our infrastructure and think this through before pushing this means of transportation on everyone. Possibly in 10 years electric vehicles could become mainstream if improvements continue, but not now.
Not ever!!