Tesla Motors is having a bad month of PR. Last week, a third Tesla vehicle erupted into flames. Naturally the skeptics of electric propulsion picked up the story first, using the combustion as a springboard for their cynicism. Automakers have struggled to market existing electric vehicles as viable alternatives to gas-powered predecessors — sales of the trailblazers of the electric vehicle including the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf have been modest at best. But the most recent slate of electric vehicles is encouraging. Here’s why the critics are about to be silenced.
Internal combustion engines, which power nearly all vehicles on the road today, will never be as efficient as their electric counterparts. ICE drivetrains are composed of countless moving parts, leaving room for high inertia and heat loss. Even as ICE drivetrains become more efficient, their fundamental structure limits their room for improvement. Electric motors don’t share a similar problem. For example, a Leaf can travel 120 miles on 33 kilowatt-hours of electricity, the energy equivalent of one gallon of gas.
Electric cars are often criticized not for their operation but production methods. Automakers can’t sell electric cars on the claim that they have small carbon footprints when the factories that produce them contribute enormous waste to the environment. Fossil fuels power most of the factories that produce electric cars, but automakers are making strides toward reversing that.
BMW is leading the way — its recen-tly unveiled line of electric vehicles is a technological tour de force, which ushers in an era of greener manufacturing. BMW expects its German factories to be powered exclusively by renewable resources by 2020. Until then, its improved recycling methods are reducing carbon emissions released by the extraction of raw materials, including aluminum, plastic and leather. During its lifetime, BMW’s electric cars are expected to have carbon footprints that are 30 to 50 percent smaller than similar normal cars.
Stock prices for Tesla have fallen 15 percent in the wake of the recent controversy. It must not be forgotten that Tesla’s cars are meticulously executed experiments, but experiments, nonetheless. Their failures, while inexcusable, are unsurprising. Few automakers are able to gain solid footing without faltering first. In spite of the fires, all three owners have publicly proclaimed their love for their sizzling Teslas. In an open letter, the third owner penned, “I would buy another one in a heartbeat.”
Electric cars, though imperfect, are the future. The difficulties surrounding electric propulsion are significant, but as technology progresses, so too will electric vehicles. The infrastructure green motoring engenders is becoming commonplace, and encoura-ges automakers to refine their electric fleets. Tesla and its competitors will learn from their missteps and grow. The future of electric cars is bright, and it won’t be because they’re on fire.
A version of this article appeared in the Thursday, Nov. 14 print edition. Omar Etman is a staff columnist. Email him at [email protected].