Are Electric Vehicles Really the Future? Musings from a Millennial Perspective
- Paris Williams
- May 25
- 3 min read
Whilst having a light-hearted conversation with my brother today—mainly centred on the amusing possibility of us suddenly becoming rich (famous might be pushing it)—we found ourselves deep in discussion about electric vehicles. He’s very much into “V8s,” which, to me, sounds like “Vibrant 8” or “Voxel 8” or something equally boyish and mysterious. I’m assuming it’s something fancy. Probably an Audi.
Now, I’m more taken by the BYD range. Just yesterday, I had the most fascinating chat with an Uber driver who was behind the wheel of one. It was a smooth ride, and the interior? Absolutely gorgeous—baby blue LED lights and all. Naturally, I was curious, so I asked my sister, who informed me it was a Chinese-manufactured car. That made sense—futuristic, sleek, and teeming with modern tech.
I did what any curious millennial would do and jumped straight onto Safari to look it up. To my surprise, the price range was around £30k to £40k—decent for what it offers. Perhaps it’s not exactly affordable for everyone, but it's certainly within reach for those earning a salary of £40k or more, with a bit of financial wriggle room.
As the conversation continued, my brother mentioned that, for his line of work in the trades - he works with a plumbing company, PH247 Ltd. (voted best new start up by the way in 2022) and his own private company Aleph Heating Ltd - an electric van wouldn’t quite cut it. For transporting heavy tools and equipment, diesel is still king. And that got me thinking: perhaps electricity, as a power source for vehicles, is still in its infancy.
Yes, we’ve had diesel for decades—tested, retested, and optimised. We’ve experimented with biofuels, E5s, E10s, and a whole alphabet soup of fuel alternatives. But electric cars? They’re the fibre optic cables of the automotive world—new, exciting, but still subject to growing pains. My parents, for instance, switched their internet from BT to EE with the hope of faster speeds using fibre optic cabling, only to find the performance worse than before. Sometimes, newer doesn’t always mean better—at least not yet.
This, in turn, made me reflect on my professional journey. I was once affectionately dubbed the 'Question Queen' by a wonderful consultant during feedback from a whole-school learning walk. That moment, along with other continued professional development in subject leadership and my NPQLT, has shaped my unique perspective on the importance of enquiry. It has drawn me towards a special interest in how fields of enquiry are interpreted through schematic and thematic approaches to planning, teaching, and learning.
James Percival thoroughly shares his active research and conclusions about thematic (topic-based) and schematic (often disciplinary or skills-based) learning. He draws on *The Cambridge Primary Review*, which supports broad and creative teaching that builds on what children already know—but warns against “low-grade topic work” where surface-level themes replace real learning. Percival points out that a model of “Disciplined Thematic Integration” helps manage the tension between creative opportunities and curriculum demands, showing that thematic and schematic approaches aren’t opposites—they can work powerfully together. James Percival (2018) History and its links across the curriculum, Education 3-13, 46:6, 712-727
Text based images above taken from the same journal.
So, whether I’m interrogating the viability of electric vehicles or exploring the frameworks that underpin effective education, one thing remains constant: asking the right questions is key. And when it comes to electric cars, the biggest question might just be—how durable, dependable, and future-proof are they really?
Let me know you think below and support him below. He needs it with a sister like me :)
Aleph Heating LTD.
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