WINNING LETTER
ICE AGE
The ICE Age is coming to an end... ICE (internal-combustion-engined) vehicles are on the path to extinction. They have served humanity well for a century but now their environmental and health toll is too high. Whether this change occurs in a decade or longer is still unknown but it will happen.
Electric vehicles are superior to ICE cars by every measure. ICE cars’ health costs are no longer tolerable. The current limiting factors for EVS are range, cost, charging times and facilities, but this will soon be addressed and be irrelevant.
We live on a farm, 25 km from the nearest small town. A normal day out is between 150 and 175 km. There are currently no local charging points. Yet, we cope easily with a 94 Ah BMW i3 EV for most of our journeys. We charge it overnight from a normal three-point plug to ensure it always has a full “tank”. We’ve never had to take the ICE car for this reason. The proof is in the pudding; in a few months we’ve already saved thousands in diesel and that’s before factoring in lower maintenance costs.
The i3 is far superior to drive, too: it’s fun, quick, agile, quieter, cleaner with no stopping for fuel. What more do you want from a car? Sadly, the media has poorly served South Africa and misconceptions about EVS are still prevalent. SA needs to get onboard or it will struggle to catch up, not to mention damaging our vehicle industry if the EV ignorance persists.
CAR would do the public a huge service if it devoted a couple of pages in each issue to explaining EVS and debunking various myths by explaining how they function. Nonsense used to be encouraged by the legacy manufacturers fearful of EVS but as they are all now piling money into it, it’s no longer in their interest to debunk them.
CAR once suggested that, even if the First World went electric, SA would still cling to ICE vehicles in 2040. Who will be making those cars? If the Usa/europe do not follow with due dedication, we’ll all be driving Chinese EVS in the future and I have no idea what will happen to the legacy manufacturers.
Ironically, there are numerous benefits for developing countries to embrace EVS but that is another long story. GUY DORMEHL Garden Route [Hope you enjoyed our review of the Audi E-tron in last month’s issue, Guy. We’ll cover electric vehicles in more depth in the coming months; don’t miss the September issue, which will feature an expansive article on all the EV and hybrids in our market – editor.]