A significant part of the population seems to hate the electric car. Are there rational reasons for this?
If you regularly read Automobile Propre, you are probably a convinced user of the electric car, and perhaps even for a long time. But it is also possible that you come here to document yourself with a view to an upcoming “conversion” to electric. In another case, you browse these pages out of simple curiosity, in order to enrich your knowledge on the subject, without a specific or immediate project.
Or you are one of those people who cordially hate everything related to the electric car, but you can’t help but come and see what’s going on because the subject fascinates you as much as it annoys you. If only for the fun of trolling? Of course not.
Be that as it may, while sales of electric cars continue to grow, we hear more and more this little music which consists in denigrating this type of motorization, its ecosystem and everything that has to do with electromobility. It even seems that this music is playing louder and louder with the increase in the market share of the electric car.
Resistance to change ? Allergy to innovation? Suspicions around a “not so clean” mode of travel? Other reasons?
If at Automobile Propre we are convinced electromobilists – not necessarily for the same reasons or with the same expectations – the fact remains that we are listening to divergent voices. We are also perfectly aware that no mode of propulsion is completely “clean”, and that the best car is the one that does not drive (hello sadness). Without denying the fact that the electric car is certainly the least “dirty”.
So why do some seem to develop a visceral allergy to the electric car? Here are some hypotheses, which of course are ours alone.
The electric car is a boho thing
If you frequent a little social networks and forums, you encounter this kind of remark more and more frequently. Without knowing exactly what this term contains, we know that “bobo” (etymologically “bohemian bourgeois”) is often used in a pejorative sense, symbolizing both a certain financial ease, an urban habitat of “big cities” accompanied by a hint of arrogance, even class contempt. In short, the antithesis of the yellow vest, which represents the France of the territories and the periphery. And the diesel car. If the observation is probably erroneous, its interpretation is clear: the owner of an electric car is the perfect target of all resentment.
The electric car is a rich man’s thing
A remark that is somewhat similar to the previous one, in a slightly more divisive way. Faithful to the tradition of class struggle which always contributes to animate the public debate in our dear country, the line of demarcation between “France from below” and “privileged” is also drawn in the discussions around the electric. It must be recognized however that this is not entirely false, and that offering “drinkable” cars – that is to say sufficiently equipped and capable of taking a family on vacation without having to recharge every 120 km – costing at the very least, between 35,000 and 60,000 euros in a country where many of our fellow citizens are struggling to maintain an old thermal from 2005 with a minimum wage of 1600 euros can almost be seen as a provocation. Patience, affordable models are coming, and they will cost less to maintain and run than their thermal equivalents.
The electric car is a Chinese thing
Our relationship with China through its industry is very ambiguous. We love to hate their “soft power” and get upset about the mistreatment (real or supposed) of Foxconn workers or ethnic minorities by putting little engaged flags in our Twitter profiles, but we rush like starving on promotions of Black Friday, where most of the products sold come directly or indirectly (via Amazon) from the Middle Kingdom. Ditto for the electric car: we point to the Chinese invasion to come, but at the same time we demand cheap vehicles. This is the whole paradox of the MG4 or the Dacia Spring, which perfectly represent this little automotive schizophrenia.
The electric car is the invention of Elon Musk, the demon himself
If there’s one divisive personality that represents everything we love to hate, especially since he fired three-quarters of Twitter’s staff over email, it’s Elon Musk. However, its name is now undoubtedly, intimately and eternally linked to the advent of the electric car to the general public. An expensive and slightly marked car from a sociological point of view (see first and second paragraph above) which is hated by several categories of people: those who only like smoking, those who hate power overdose, diehard greens, and those who love electric but swear by polished design and haute couture-style finishes. Casually, even if the Teslas are selling very well, it’s still a bit crowded on the side of electric haters.
The electric car is not ecological
This chorus is certainly the most heard, often with a little pinch of bad faith. Admittedly, no car is completely ecological, but we can’t deny that electric is the “least worst” when it comes to the environmental impact of driving. And it would seem that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the official and absolute urgency these days. In this logic, driving an electric car remains the least bad solution, even if it is not perfect. Every era has its priorities, right? There remains the question of the extraction of ores and other rare earths for the manufacture of batteries, and the recycling of these. There too there is still progress to be made, but we are making progress, and above all there is a lot of nonsense being told on the subject.
The electric car will ruin our energy capacity
The subject could not be more topical, and the questions that arise around the ability to supply electricity for millions of electric cars may seem legitimate. A fortiori in these times of crisis and shortage announced if only to cook pasta al dente or take a lukewarm shower. But the various reports on the subject are unambiguous: once back to normal, the supply of electricity permitted by our nuclear fleet should be sufficient by 2035, even with 15 million electric cars on the road. Or else RTE and AVERE are talking nonsense, which would still seem quite improbable. Afterwards, we agree, even the best can be wrong.
The electric car lacks autonomy
Know it, there are people who pride themselves on “doing 1000 km in one go” with their diesel. For them, inevitably, an electric car, even with 500 km of autonomy, will always be a heresy. So with 350, let’s not talk about it. But for the vast majority, those who take a break every 2 or 3 hours anyway, this should be enough, knowing that broadband charging networks are now developing at a sustained pace of several openings each month throughout the territory. Tesla, Ionity, Electra, Fastned, Bump, Power Dot, TotalEnergies, Engie, Izivia and others, all the players are on the job and the openings will multiply and represent thousands of additional charging points in the months to come. While our diesel driver with a thousand terminals will treat his lumbago, his sciatica and his bladder.
The electric car lacks transparency
There we can not give wrong to those who make this reproach. Between the prices of charging stations per kW or per minute where nothing is indicated, the very optimistic ranges announced by the manufacturers, the vagueness of the WLTP and EPA standards, the somewhat fanciful charging power figures and the absence information on the availability of the terminals by the operators, we can say that the small world of the electric car remains a rather opaque thing, even borderline esoteric for the average consumer. If we want to move towards more transparency, all the players in the business will have to roll up their sleeves and work together by providing reliable information Or, quite simply… information.
In conclusion
The field of the electric car is still maturing, and like all emerging markets, it is still a sector made up of uncertainties and fantasies where the irrational and beliefs compete with facts and science. No need to blame anyone, everyone has their share of responsibility, whether it’s manufacturers and their communication, charging operators, the media and the public. So there is still a bit of work for those who hate the electric car to change their minds and adopt it of their own free will and without coercion.
Basically there are 12 years left.
A significant part of the population seems to hate the electric car. Are there rational reasons for this?
If you regularly read Automobile Propre, you are probably a convinced user of the electric car, and perhaps even for a long time. But it is also possible that you come here to document yourself with a view to an upcoming “conversion” to electric. In another case, you browse these pages out of simple curiosity, in order to enrich your knowledge on the subject, without a specific or immediate project.
Or you are one of those people who cordially hate everything related to the electric car, but you can’t help but come and see what’s going on because the subject fascinates you as much as it annoys you. If only for the fun of trolling? Of course not.
Be that as it may, while sales of electric cars continue to grow, we hear more and more this little music which consists in denigrating this type of motorization, its ecosystem and everything that has to do with electromobility. It even seems that this music is playing louder and louder with the increase in the market share of the electric car.
Resistance to change ? Allergy to innovation? Suspicions around a “not so clean” mode of travel? Other reasons?
If at Automobile Propre we are convinced electromobilists – not necessarily for the same reasons or with the same expectations – the fact remains that we are listening to divergent voices. We are also perfectly aware that no mode of propulsion is completely “clean”, and that the best car is the one that does not drive (hello sadness). Without denying the fact that the electric car is certainly the least “dirty”.
So why do some seem to develop a visceral allergy to the electric car? Here are some hypotheses, which of course are ours alone.
The electric car is a boho thing
If you frequent a little social networks and forums, you encounter this kind of remark more and more frequently. Without knowing exactly what this term contains, we know that “bobo” (etymologically “bohemian bourgeois”) is often used in a pejorative sense, symbolizing both a certain financial ease, an urban habitat of “big cities” accompanied by a hint of arrogance, even class contempt. In short, the antithesis of the yellow vest, which represents the France of the territories and the periphery. And the diesel car. If the observation is probably erroneous, its interpretation is clear: the owner of an electric car is the perfect target of all resentment.
The electric car is a rich man’s thing
A remark that is somewhat similar to the previous one, in a slightly more divisive way. Faithful to the tradition of class struggle which always contributes to animate the public debate in our dear country, the line of demarcation between “France from below” and “privileged” is also drawn in the discussions around the electric. It must be recognized however that this is not entirely false, and that offering “drinkable” cars – that is to say sufficiently equipped and capable of taking a family on vacation without having to recharge every 120 km – costing at the very least, between 35,000 and 60,000 euros in a country where many of our fellow citizens are struggling to maintain an old thermal from 2005 with a minimum wage of 1600 euros can almost be seen as a provocation. Patience, affordable models are coming, and they will cost less to maintain and run than their thermal equivalents.
The electric car is a Chinese thing
Our relationship with China through its industry is very ambiguous. We love to hate their “soft power” and get upset about the mistreatment (real or supposed) of Foxconn workers or ethnic minorities by putting little engaged flags in our Twitter profiles, but we rush like starving on promotions of Black Friday, where most of the products sold come directly or indirectly (via Amazon) from the Middle Kingdom. Ditto for the electric car: we point to the Chinese invasion to come, but at the same time we demand cheap vehicles. This is the whole paradox of the MG4 or the Dacia Spring, which perfectly represent this little automotive schizophrenia.
The electric car is the invention of Elon Musk, the demon himself
If there’s one divisive personality that represents everything we love to hate, especially since he fired three-quarters of Twitter’s staff over email, it’s Elon Musk. However, its name is now undoubtedly, intimately and eternally linked to the advent of the electric car to the general public. An expensive and slightly marked car from a sociological point of view (see first and second paragraph above) which is hated by several categories of people: those who only like smoking, those who hate power overdose, diehard greens, and those who love electric but swear by polished design and haute couture-style finishes. Casually, even if the Teslas are selling very well, it’s still a bit crowded on the side of electric haters.
The electric car is not ecological
This chorus is certainly the most heard, often with a little pinch of bad faith. Admittedly, no car is completely ecological, but we can’t deny that electric is the “least worst” when it comes to the environmental impact of driving. And it would seem that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the official and absolute urgency these days. In this logic, driving an electric car remains the least bad solution, even if it is not perfect. Every era has its priorities, right? There remains the question of the extraction of ores and other rare earths for the manufacture of batteries, and the recycling of these. There too there is still progress to be made, but we are making progress, and above all there is a lot of nonsense being told on the subject.
The electric car will ruin our energy capacity
The subject could not be more topical, and the questions that arise around the ability to supply electricity for millions of electric cars may seem legitimate. A fortiori in these times of crisis and shortage announced if only to cook pasta al dente or take a lukewarm shower. But the various reports on the subject are unambiguous: once back to normal, the supply of electricity permitted by our nuclear fleet should be sufficient by 2035, even with 15 million electric cars on the road. Or else RTE and AVERE are talking nonsense, which would still seem quite improbable. Afterwards, we agree, even the best can be wrong.
The electric car lacks autonomy
Know it, there are people who pride themselves on “doing 1000 km in one go” with their diesel. For them, inevitably, an electric car, even with 500 km of autonomy, will always be a heresy. So with 350, let’s not talk about it. But for the vast majority, those who take a break every 2 or 3 hours anyway, this should be enough, knowing that broadband charging networks are now developing at a sustained pace of several openings each month throughout the territory. Tesla, Ionity, Electra, Fastned, Bump, Power Dot, TotalEnergies, Engie, Izivia and others, all the players are on the job and the openings will multiply and represent thousands of additional charging points in the months to come. While our diesel driver with a thousand terminals will treat his lumbago, his sciatica and his bladder.
The electric car lacks transparency
There we can not give wrong to those who make this reproach. Between the prices of charging stations per kW or per minute where nothing is indicated, the very optimistic ranges announced by the manufacturers, the vagueness of the WLTP and EPA standards, the somewhat fanciful charging power figures and the absence information on the availability of the terminals by the operators, we can say that the small world of the electric car remains a rather opaque thing, even borderline esoteric for the average consumer. If we want to move towards more transparency, all the players in the business will have to roll up their sleeves and work together by providing reliable information Or, quite simply… information.
In conclusion
The field of the electric car is still maturing, and like all emerging markets, it is still a sector made up of uncertainties and fantasies where the irrational and beliefs compete with facts and science. No need to blame anyone, everyone has their share of responsibility, whether it’s manufacturers and their communication, charging operators, the media and the public. So there is still a bit of work for those who hate the electric car to change their minds and adopt it of their own free will and without coercion.
Basically there are 12 years left.
