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Disadvantages of Electric Cars
The additional disadvantages often cited include expensive batteries, lack of recharging stations, and even unfamiliarity of emergency crews dealing with electric cars when in an accident. The reason why I won't cite too many specifics with any of these disadvantages, is because the auto industry and battery manufacturers are advancing on reducing the disadvantages very, very rapidly at the moment, not in part because of sky high oil prices. Long charging times are one of the drawbacks for many in regards to electric cars. These can be as high as 12 hours, and are not very practical unless your driving habits are very predictable from day to day. Similarly, electric cars have been plagued with short ranges, which leads to the cars being mostly used as neighborhood vehicles for short range commutes. Both of these disadvantages are disappearing rapidly as battery manufacturers are making new types of batteries available for electric cars. Unattractive designs have also been one of the trademark disadvantages for electric cars. Because a lot of the initial designs have been made with efficiency in mind to prolong useful battery range, the designs have been quite unattractive from traditional car design perspective. The designs are becoming more mainstream, however, as more attention is paid by the manufacturers to aesthetically pleasing results and the cars are aimed at bigger crowds of buyers. Because electric cars are not purchased on a mass scale as of yet, many of the cars are made in small production numbers, leading to expensive manufacturing costs per car and this price is then passed on to the customer. As more and more people start buying these cars, however, the prices should come down very rapidly. The same phenomena has happened in all areas of mass manufacturing and electric cars is no exception. One of the sometimes quoted drawbacks for both hybrid cars and electric cars is that many emergency crews that work on accident sites are unfamiliar and inexperienced with working with electric cars. Although that should not stop the crews from working on the accident victims, there may be danger to the emergency crew, and that may indirectly impact the rescue effort.
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