Reliability and longevity concerns may once have been among the most common reasons for not buying an electric vehicle. A new study published in Nature Energy claims that the reliability of battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) has increased considerably and they now have comparable longevity to conventional internal-combustion-engine vehicles.
The study examined almost 300 million test logs from the UK Ministry of Transportation (MOT) between 2005 and 2022. This data gave researchers a thorough evaluation of each car's "health" on UK roads, allowing them to compare survival rates across different powertrains and predict vehicle longevity.
Teams from the University of California San Diego, the University of Birmingham, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the University of Bern in Switzerland concluded that battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) can travel an average of 124,000 miles (199,500 km) - more than the typical gasoline car of the same generation - in their lifetime, and have an average lifespan of 18.4 years, compared to 18.7 years for gasoline cars and 16.8 years for diesel cars.
It's no secret that early battery electric vehicles were far less reliable than internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). However, recent technological advancements have allowed current BEVs to have improved lifespans, even when used more frequently.
With a 12% decreased chance of failure (hazard rate) for every year of production, BEVs showed the fastest reliability increase, according to the research, compared to 6.7% decreased hazard rate for gasoline-powered vehicles and a 1.9% decrease for diesel-powered models.
“BEVs offer significant environmental benefits,” explained Robert Elliott, co-author of the research and Professor of Economics at the University of Birmingham. “Despite higher initial emissions from production, a long-lasting electric vehicle can quickly offset its carbon footprint, contributing to the fight against climate change – making them a more sustainable long-term option.”
Sure, the process of producing an electric vehicle can use a lot of natural resources, with some studies claiming that, compared to ICEVs, BEVs have a 50% greater environmental impact during production since they typically require four to six times the essential mineral inputs of conventional automobiles.
But BEVs can make up some of that ground by being run on low-carbon electricity produced from renewable sources like wind, solar, and geothermal energy. Plus they have no tailpipe emissions. And as the world's electricity grids transition to renewables, the environmental benefits become even more substantial in the grand scheme of things.
Their upfront costs are eventually outweighed by their long-term advantages too. Argonne National Laboratory reports that the average cost of maintenance for BEVs is around $0.06 per mile (1.6 km), whereas that of ICEVs is $0.10 per mile. Further, their relative affordability is bolstered by reduced fuel prices and government incentives, such as subsidies and exemptions from taxes and tolls.
“We’re not environmental crusaders," said Elliott. "We just want to give the facts. Electric cars and the batteries, they’re just living longer, and the technology is improving, and it would have improved again since this study.”
Now I’m no advocate for electric vehicles. I still own a gasoline-powered Royal Enfield and Suzuki Jimny. And I love both these vehicles. But I cannot really downplay emerging EVs that promise to do all that you’d expect from a gas guzzler and a lot more.
Decades of technological advancements may have given ICE vehicles a longevity edge in the past, but emerging EV technologies are still rapidly developing. So there’s still a long road of improvements ahead for electric enthusiasts.
This study might as well show that we’re standing at that tipping point when electric vehicles might just surpass their internal-combustion counterparts. Exciting times indeed.
Source: Nature Energy
