Drivers warned of serious problems with electric cars despite soaring popularity

DRIVERS have been issued an urgent warning regarding serious problems with electric cars despite their soaring popularity.

Electric vehicle technology is improving at a rapid pace, with a wider choice of cars and advancements in overall range, battery efficiency and public charging availability.

It's seen sales of electric cars become increasingly popular across the globe.

The latest figures released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggest almost one-in-five new cars sold worldwide this year will be either full battery electric or plug-in hybrid models.

In total, 14 million EVs are expected to be sold this year, up from around a million in 2017.  

But although electrification of the global vehicle fleet brings less pollution, there is also cause for concern.

EV's are by no means perfect and there are some issues which appear to be putting a real dampener on increasing sales, reports

SUVs have been growing in popularity in recent years, accounting for 42 per cent of all car sales in 2020.

And electric SUVs have also gained ground, representing roughly 35 per cent of electric passenger car sales in 2022. 

Christian Brand at the University of Oxford has labelled trend towards larger cars a “mobesity” epidemic.

The motor expert says that their size and weight can reduce efficiency.

And their larger batteries also require more raw minerals, like cobalt and lithium, putting extra pressure on already stretched global supplies.

“The trend towards larger cars is definitely not desirable at all,” says Brand.  

He suggests new policies to encourage people to opt for smaller EVs may be needed, such as hiking taxes for electric SUVs.

But he says that this would be "unpopular with policy-markers" as they would fear losing votes.

While Frank Kelly at Imperial College London says that electric vehicles still do produce pollution from their tyres, brakes and road wear.

He says that as most people in big cities still own cars, this problem will not fully go away.

And he adds that "reducing car dependency" is not helped by the rise in EVs.

Electric car owners have already expressed their frustration with lengthy queues and the lack of new chargers being installed across the UK.

Higher insurance and road tax costs could be seen as another reason for people to hold back on making the switch.