Rethinking the Electric Vehicle: More Than Just Transportation
- Pete Westlake
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail.”
This famous saying captures how we often adapt new technologies to fit old paradigms. Instead of reimagining what's possible, we retrofit innovation into outdated molds. Consider these examples:
Bicycle seats were modeled after horseback saddles, despite the differences in motion and posture. As a result, long rides are often uncomfortable.
Flip phones echoed the shape of traditional telephones, but their design limited screen size and functionality—something modern smartphones overcame with slate-style formats.
Early productivity software, like digital calendars, simply mimicked paper planners. It wasn’t until platforms like Microsoft Teams emerged that we began to leverage the full potential of digital collaboration.
Hybrid vehicles attempted to merge electric motors with internal combustion engines instead of fully embracing new architectures. True innovation came with the skateboard design—where batteries and motors form a flat base, and everything else is modular.
So why do we still see battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as just cars?
The BEV Advantage: More Than Efficiency
BEVs are not just efficient alternatives—they’re versatile tools that can reshape how we live and work. Yes, they’re excellent at transportation:
Energy-efficient: They can reduce fuel costs by up to 60% and maintenance costs by around 30%.
Quiet and smooth: While some miss the roar of a combustion engine, the silent ride of a BEV is a luxury in itself.
Fun to drive: Instant torque means quick acceleration. My 2016 Nissan Leaf routinely beat muscle cars off the line—even giving a Mustang GTO a surprise.
But limiting BEVs to transportation underestimates their full value.
BEVs as Backup Power
A typical BEV with a 300-mile range stores about 60–100 kWh of energy—enough to power an average household for 3–5 days during an outage. That’s the equivalent of owning a $10,000 generator—without the noise, fuel, or maintenance.
Some models already offer this capability examples include:
Ford F-150 Lightning supports two-way power flow and home integration.
Kia EV6 and EV9 include vehicle-to-load (V2L) features to power tools or appliances.
Concerns about battery degradation from occasional use as a power source are largely overstated—especially considering most households experience outages just a few times a year.
Second-Life Batteries: A Missed Opportunity
When I traded in my 2016 Leaf, I got $2,500. But its battery, with proper conditioning, could have been repurposed for stationary storage—comparable in value to three Tesla Powerwalls (up to $30,000). Unfortunately, there’s no easy way today for consumers to reclaim and reuse their EV batteries.
We need a cottage industry that harvests these batteries, reconditions them, and mounts them on homes or sells them into microgrid markets. A well-maintained end-of-life EV could retain significant value through its battery alone.
Energy Independence in Remote Areas
Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles depend on fuel logistics. Not so with BEVs. With solar energy and a portable battery system (like a Jackery solar generator), EVs can operate off-grid.
Imagine:
Driving an F-150 Lightning across the Mojave Desert with solar panels recharging your battery in the truck bed.
Powering a campsite or off-grid cabin without needing to haul gas.
Replacing all gas vehicles on an island like Bermuda, eliminating the need to import fuel.
Giving park rangers or military teams access to clean, solar-powered mobility in remote areas.
Just like Matt Damon in The Martian used solar to reach the backup site, BEVs can turn remote travel into a sustainable reality.
The Bigger Picture
Think of it this way: Your $35,000 EV can also serve as:
A $10,000 generator
A remote exploration tool
A $25,000 stationary battery at end-of-life
Why limit it to just transportation?
It’s time to stop thinking of BEVs as simply replacements for gas-powered cars. They’re platforms for energy, mobility, and resilience. If you’re in the market for a new vehicle, maybe it’s time to think electric—not just for the ride, but for everything else it can do.