A Mechanical Engineers View of Electric Vehicles (Featuring Guest Blogger Livi Jurrens)

Electric cars continue to increase in popularity. Although they were once hard to find, an increase in variety and pricing has made them prevalent on the roadways. Even in my rural hometown of Oakland, NE I have seen the occasional Tesla cursing downtown. Because of the popularity of this movement, I wanted to discuss electric vehicles on my blog. However, outside of battery design, Chemical Engineers aren’t very involved in the electric car movement. So, I asked my classmate, Olivia (Livi) Jurrens, to do a written interview for my blog. Livi is a senior Mechanical Engineering and the Student Association Senate President at SD Mines.

In this post, there will be series of questions (in bold) that I sent to Livi. Beneath each question is Livi’s unedited responses. If you like what Livi had to say or have questions for her, check out her blog Easy Ev (https://easyev.weebly.com). She is a thoughtful writer, and I personally enjoyed her post discussing the TV show “Upload” and how it perpetuates fears about self-driving electric vehicles.

Why are you interested in electric vehicles?

I have been driving a hybrid with electric vehicle capabilities for three years now. The financial impact that it has had on my own life has inspired me to encourage others to switch to an EV. I am always trying to be more environmentally friendly, and driving a car that has significantly less emissions than a combustion engine vehicle is a great way to do that.

Why do you believe electric vehicles are important?

Electric vehicles are going to become the norm. Climate change is a pressing issue, and changing small aspects of your life to lessen your carbon footprint is one of the most important things you can do. Electricity is a highly renewable resource, and unless the power grid goes down completely, there will be electricity to charge your vehicle.

Electric vehicles are also more financially friendly. As the cost of gasoline increases at unheard of rates, using a much cheaper source of power will help everyone.

What challenges are there to electric vehicles and how are these being faced?

A major issue in production of electric vehicles is battery production. There is a lot of ethical controversy over where the batteries are being made and who is behind the labor of it. The US is actively working towards creating a more stable supply of cobalt, a main element used in EV batteries. Currently, cobalt is mined in foreign countries, and there have been concerns raised about child labor during this mining.

In terms of driving an electric vehicle, one of the main issues is charging. Currently, the longest range on an EV is 353 miles on the Tesla Model 3 Long Range [1]. A little over 300 miles is not very far if you’re going on a road trip. Tesla is great at telling you where the nearest Supercharger is, but the issue is whether you will be able to make it there or not. More rural areas do not have Superchargers right now which means you must be prepared with your own charger and bank on finding a place to plug the charger in. Superchargers can add 200 miles to the car’s range in just 15 minutes, but the standard wall charger you would use at home only gives 44 miles of range per hour charged [2].

There are other electric vehicles besides Tesla, though. More and more places are beginning to add parking spots near outlets or built in EV charging stations. It is always a good idea to bring your own charger with you, just in case a charging station is not available. As electric vehicles become more popular, the amount of charging stations will increase.

How accessible should electric vehicles be?

Electric vehicles currently run a pretty high price tag. This is due to a few reasons, one being the increased production time. As with any new product, production takes a while to standardize, and until then, it will take longer to finish the product. Even in the last five years, accessibility to electric vehicles has increased greatly. More EVs are coming on the market and those that were already there are being made quicker.

In my opinion, at the beginning of this new implementation of electric vehicles, companies kept their cars quite exclusive. There were few available and if you could afford to order one, it was a multiple year wait for it.

Accessibility to electric vehicles will continue to grow in the coming years. As concerns around climate change and emissions continue, it is likely that there will be more incentives to buy electric vehicles. There are currently many federal tax credits available for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles [3]. This is definitely a move in the right direction and makes EVs much more accessible, affordable, and appealing.

In your opinion, what is the best electric vehicle on the market?

In terms of looks, the Ford Mustang Mach E would have to be my favorite. The range on the SUV is modest at 270-300 miles[4]. It’s starting price of $42,895 also isn’t terrible in comparison to the Tesla Model Y at $51,190 [5]. Ultimately, it comes down to the needs of the driver. Rivian’s R1S is an investment, but if the sedan sized Tesla or SUV Mach E aren’t quite large enough, it is a great option [6]. If you aren’t quite ready to make the full switch to electric, the Ford Maverick Hybrid has an extremely low MSRP at just $19.995 and makes a fantastic 42 mpg in the city [7]. There are so many options for electric and hybrid vehicles, and the driver must choose which makes the most sense for them.

Livi’s Sources

[1] https://electrek.co/2021/10/15/longest-range-evs-2021/

[2] tesla.com/support/charging

[3] https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/taxevb.shtml

[4] https://www.ford.com/suvs/mach-e/

[5] https://www.kbb.com/comparison/2021-ford-mustang-mach-e-vs-2021-tesla-model-y/

[6] https://rivian.com/r1s

[7] https://shop.ford.com/configure/maverick/model/customize/xl?gnav=header-suvs-vhp