If you think that electric cars are the future, you are right. If you think electric cars are solely the future over hybrids like Prius, you are wrong. Here is why.
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There is no doubt in my mind that Tesla has become a superstar in the automotive world. The technology, the style, the total package of a Tesla is incredible.
The thing is Tesla, and other car companies that are banking on electric cars being our complete mode of transportation are just wrong. Here is why the Toyota Prius will be around for a very long time.
There Is A Growing Need For Energy Consumption
Toyota Prius and Tesla are answers to a problem we have been facing for quite some time. That problem is the consumption of energy. I am not talking about the fuel consumption, or carbon emissions, or even fracking. I am talking about population growth and the rate at which we consume energy.
Energy is anything that we use to do something else. Potential energy is the food we eat or the gasoline we pump into our Prius. Kinetic energy, sometimes called energy in motion, is what we "consume" when we use potential energy.
Our need for energy has never been higher, with over 7 billion people on this earth, we are looking to satisfy a constant need to consume. One of these consumption needs is transportation. The more people we have, the more need there will be to fulfill the demand for taking people places. It is basic logic, and it is also a demand we are having a hard time satisfying.
Why Tesla Will Not End Prius Production
I like Tesla, and I think that electric cars make a lot of sense. I think that some people do not see the big picture, though. Right now, with as many humans as we have on this planet, switching to a sole source of electric cars is silly.
The demand for Tesla and other car manufacturers to produce electric cars is increasing at a rate that cannot currently be filled. No one can keep up with the demand for our transportation needs with just an electric fleet. Our power grid cannot support millions of electric cars all charging at the same time.
Not only that, but battery technology is not at a point where charging is good enough to give us long battery life and extended drive time. We are getting closer with the advent of solid-state, but we are not there yet.
We need cars like the Prius to help mitigate our dependence on energy as we humans figure out better solutions for our ever-growing need.
Conclusion
Battery electric cars are cool; there is no doubt about it. They are not the end all be all for our future, though. We demand too much from our current need for energy. Electric cars like Tesla are no more than supplements to our problem. It will take a couple more decades before we see the results we want. Prius will be around for a very long time as our demand for energy keeps growing.
Thank you for reading, be sure to check out my next story. Is It Worth It To Buy A Used Toyota Prius?
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Peter Neilson is an automotive consultant specializing in electric cars and hybrid battery technologies. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Service Technology from Weber State University. Peter is also an Instructor of Automotive Technology at Columbia Basin College. Peter can be reached on Linkedin and you can tweet him at The_hybrid_guy on Twitter. Find his page on Facebook at Certified Auto Consulting. Read more of Peter's stories at Toyota news coverage on Torque News. Search Toyota Prius Torque News for more in depth Prius coverage from our reporters.
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