Electric Vehicles as an Alternative to Conventional Vehicles: A Review

Abstract

Electric vehicles have been developed during last two decades as one of the solutions for
reducing the toxic emissions and energy consumption of the transportation sector. However, the
higher manufacturing cost of electric vehicles (EVs) is a main barrier for the electric vehicle
industry comparing to manufacturing cost of conventional internal combustion engine vehicles
(ICEVs); moreover, the cost-benefit analyses and other related studies cannot figure out all
benefits and negative attributes of electric vehicles as compared to conventional, internalcombustion vehicles.
Recently, an important question about this issue has arisen: Is the electric vehicle the best
solution for saving energy, cost, and environment? In order to answer this question, the existing
literature related to electric vehicles and both their benefits and negative attributes, in all
aspects, have been reviewed and analyzed.
In this study, the literature concerning all aspects of electric vehicle performance
(environmental, energy, cost, reliability) were analyzed. In addition, the extent of conflicts
among the different factors that affect the performance of electric vehicles were determined in
order to clarify the overall picture of electric vehicle performance, as compared to that of ICEVs
and, finally, to present the overall findings of the study’s analysis.