July 1st, 2003 - A few small entrepreneurs found Tesla. The following year, a man named Elon Musk invests multiple millions of dollars and joins the company.
January 7th, 2021 - Nearly 18 years after investing in a tiny electric car company, Elon Musk surpasses Jeff Bezos and becomes the most wealthy man on the planet; With a net worth of $185 billion.
Over the last few years, Elon Musk's car company, Tesla, has been at the forefront of electric car development. What started out as simply a dream, has become a reality. He has defied all odds and has created something truly remarkable (Technically, two things, given SpaceX has also done incredibly well). As impressive as his feats are, he still hasn't made a massive dent in the process of converting people to buying electric vehicles. At the end of 2018, there were about 1 million electric vehicles on the road in the U.S., according to the Edison Electric Institute. Their projections for the future, however, are promising. EEI is projecting about 18.7 million electric vehicles on U.S. roads in 2030.
Tesla's Current Luxury Car Model: Model X
One might ask why the numbers appear so low. After all, the pros of driving an electric vehicle (especially a Tesla) largely outweigh the cons. At first thought, it's the price. However, in the past five years, the price of electric vehicles, that of higher quality vehicles such as a Tesla, have significantly dropped. The entry-level Tesla, Model 3, starts at a price of $37,900. This is also around the same price as a brand new gas-powered car. So, what could the major factor be? The answer: location.
Locations and Stations
The location of where you live can largely dictate if you should buy an electric car. Around the world, there are many places that are very suitable for the driving of any electric vehicle. One might think something like the location's weather would be something to hold an EV back, but that's not the case. If that were the case, we would not see such an abundance of EVs being driven in areas that get a lot of snowfall, such as New Hampshire. The major reason there aren't as many as there should be is because of the location of the charging stations. According to Statista, there are currently 24,807 EV charging stations in the United States as of March 3, 2020. However, when compared to the number of gas stations there are in the U.S. that number seems minuscule. As of 2020, MarketWatch reports there are about 115,000 gas stations in the U.S. Although, MarketWatch says, "That figure has dropped sharply over the last two decades." That figure will continue to drop sharply as cars become more fuel-efficient and more EVs are produced.
Local Numbers
Let's take a look at the local numbers in our state of New Hampshire. According to Bob Sanders of NH Business Review, "New Hampshire has 271 public charging outlets of all levels, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, compared to 483 in Maine, 754 in Vermont and 3,054 in Massachusetts." The part of this figure you may find absurd is the fact that Vermont has over twice the amount of charging stations as New Hampshire, despite having less than half of NH's population. In addition to this, the state of New Hampshire allocated $4.6 million in 2018 (as a result of the Volkswagen diesel-manipulation money received) to construct a network of EV charging stations. Since then, not a single one has been built. The state has not explained or elaborated on why this is the case, but it's probably a political matter (unfortunately).
Final Thoughts
Electric vehicles are undoubtedly the future of transportation. However, our state, the rest of our country, and the rest of the world need to prepare properly for it. We must ramp up the installing of charging stations to compensate for the large amount of EVs that will be produced and sold. We know this is an inevitability, so unlike COVID-19, let's be prepared this time.
Works Cited
Edison Electric Institute. 30 Nov. 2018, www.eei.org/resourcesandmedia/newsroom/Pages/Press%20Releases/EEI%20Celebrates%201%20Million%20Electric%20Vehicles%20on%20U-S-%20Roads.aspx. Accessed 5 Jan. 2020.
MarketWatch. 16 Feb. 2020, www.marketwatch.com/story/how-many-gas-stations-are-in-us-how-many-will-there-be-in-10-years-2020-02-16. Accessed 6 Jan. 2020.
NH Business Review. 3 Dec. 2020, www.nhbr.com/new-hampshire-remains-a-laggard-in-building-ev-charging-station-network/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2020.
Statista. 3 Mar. 2020, www.statista.com/statistics/416750/number-of-electric-vehicle-charging-stations-outlets-united-states/#:~:text=Electric%20vehicle%20charging%20stations%20and%20outlets%20in%20U.S.%20%2D%20March%202020&text=In%20March%202020%2C%20the%20U.S.,stations%20and%2028%2C545%20power%20outlets. Accessed 6 Jan. 2020.
Tesla. www.tesla.com/. Accessed 5 Jan. 2020.
Tesla electric cars lineup DCA. Wikimedia Commons, 16 Aug. 2018, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tesla_electric_cars_lineup_DCA_08_2018_0282.jpg. Accessed 6 Jan. 2020.
You've done a great job of talking about the problem in NH. It seems like many of the charging stations are along the highway, as opposed to within towns and cities. Is that true of other places? What are the numbers like in other parts of the world? Have they shifted to electric cars more quickly?
ReplyDeleteOn a separate note, the Tesla's doors are so cool.
Great job with this! I was curious, what are your thoughts about Charging Station exclusivity? For example, take Porsche and their electric cars. How do you feel about them not being able to use Tesla's Super Charging network? While Tesla allows companies to build their cars with Tesla Super Charge compatibility, those companies choose to ignore it and make exclusive stations. Its safe to say that there are way more Tesla Charging stations then Porsche Charging Stations so if you own a anything besides a Tesla right now, you have to keep in mind that you aren't going to be near a charging station a lot of the time, compared to a gas station, where you could most likely expect to see one 2-3 miles within your location. I mean, you have to consider it with a Tesla as well but if we keep building this exclusive ordeal instead of a collaborative one, it can be something that would drive consumers away, when any gas powered car currently can go to any gas station.
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