Electrical Vehicles and Benefits to the Environment Essay

“We can break our dependence on oil…and become the first country to have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015,” President Obama said in his January 2011 State of the Union address (Institute for Energy Research 1). While this may sound promising, the practicality and merit in achieving this goal remains unclear. Auto manufacturers have been working on plans for electric cars for years, especially the three largest companies in the US: Chevrolet, Chrysler, and Ford. These companies have been hoping that the development of electric cars would create a sort of lifestyle change for consumers, both weaning the U.S. off of its dependence on foreign oil and breathing life into the market for auto sales at the same time. Electric cars are often sold as zero emissions, but technically that is only true once they are charged and in terms of their tailpipe emissions. After all, they have to get their energy from somewhere and, more often than not, the electricity used for charging is supplied by traditional coal fired power plants. The real question then is whether the source and amount of energy required to build and supply an electric car with power is actually cleaner and more economical than a traditional combustion automobile. As it turns out, the answer is both unexpected and fairly complicated. In order to assess whether the use of

Everyone around the country needs to work to lower emissions into the air to reduce the greenhouse gases trapping heat in the atmosphere. I am not a fan of electric vehicles but, they are better for the environment than gas or diesel vehicles. They release less gases into the air and can be recharged almost anywhere with solar panel charger adapters. Some companies like, Tesla and VIA (General Motors Company) have made a dream for a person to own and be able to afford one.

At a first glance, electric vehicles create a facade showing off the newest innovation in efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles. Yet, behind the masks that these manufacturers hide behind, there is a vault that holds all the funds they have essentially scammed the smartest consumers out of. Have you ever questioned the production procedure involved in the creation of these glorified pieces of sheet metal? Never! Who cares, right? A simple Wikipedia search exposes the fraud used by manufacturers. Most electric vehicles share the same facility as their gas counterparts. Prioritizing the safety of our planet, alternative energy sources have been identified and have been put into effect. It’s name? Oil.

Tonachel, Luke. Study: Electric Vehicles Can Dramatically Reduce Carbon Pollution from Transportation, and Improve Air Quality. 17 September 2015. 1 April 2017. .

Imagine never being locked out of your disgusting gas-guzzling vehicle in sub-zero temperatures pumping your car full of toxic chemicals and then later emptying your bank account to pay for the environment killer ever again. This reality is near and approaching faster than ever before. Although, it is not completely beneficial. It is evident that at an international level, electric cars are needed. But, this is only one side of the story, despite common belief, electric vehicles are not always good for the environment. It is true that they will benefit bank accounts, however, the only way for electric cars to improve the environment is if they are powered by clean renewable energy.

The subject of electric vehicles has been very popular of late. There have been many articles written, and research done, to scrutinize the on-going use of combustion vehicles while convincing the populous that electric vehicles are the wave of the future for transportation needs. Sales of electric vehicles have proven this true. Over the past five years, the number of electric vehicle sold has increased dramatically. According to the Electric Drive Transportation Association, in 2010 the number of Plug-In vehicles was only 345. The number of Plug-in vehicles -

One driving force of change is technology. The automobile industry is constantly focusing on technology in order to make themselves and their cars better. They constantly compete to be the “first” one to have the newest and best idea. One of these ideas is an electric vehicle. GM, Ford, and Toyota all have electric automobiles. GM has the Chevy Volt. Volt One of Ford’s electric cars is the Electric Ranger. Ranger Toyota had the Rav4 EV, but due to discouraging sales it stopped production. “Toyota remains committed to developing an "Eco Vehicle," one that will have a minimal impact on the environment.” Rav4 One purpose of the electric automobiles is to have the ability to drive to work using only electricity. Currently during longer trips you would have to use a combination of electric and gasoline power. Electric Car

Electric cars are becoming very popular in today’s world and are becoming more main stream. One reason for this is the need for automobiles that have a lower or a zero carbon footprint. For the majority of the history of the automobile, the propulsion system was a gas or a diesel engine that would run off of fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels is very hazardous to our world and also creates much toxic pollution. However, electric cars run off of electricity, which is a very clean and pollution free resource, depending on how the electricity was produced of course. In this paper we are going to examine the history of electric cars, look into modern electric car technology, and peer into the future of electric car technology to see if EVs might be the answer to dramatically reducing our global pollution.

The future American commuter will undoubtedly have to transition from the use of fossil fuels to new alternatives due to the diminishing availability of the nation’s oil resources. How will America respond to this upcoming issue? It is difficult to predict which alternative fuel source America will ultimately choose, but with the premier of Nissan’s electric powered Leaf and other companies; such as Tesla Motors and Chevy, with their electric cars ready for market, the electric car may be winning the race to become the new standard for the gasoline alternative. Electric cars resolve long standing environmental issues, but it will need to maneuver around many roadblocks to become a marketable consideration for the general public. The

“Of the world’s approximately 650,000,000 motor vehicles, fewer than 1,500,000 are not powered by either gasoline or diesel.” (Bradley 24). This minority of the vehicular population equates to a mere two thousandths of a percent of alternately powered vehicles. Nearly all of these alternately powered vehicles are powered by liquefied petroleum or compressed natural gas. The time to change that for the better is here and we must push our way through the red tape created by automakers so we can finally drive practical low emission cars. It is imperative that we begin driving higher efficiency automobiles because the limited supply of fossil fuels is running low, global warming is becoming a major issue

Despite the costs savings for electric cars, the environmental impact of electric cars are still being debated. In the first comparison of the two vehicles we shall look at their environmental impacts. while the electric car doesn 't produce any emissions through the tailpipe lets look at how it compare in the way of how electricity is produce in order to fuel the car. In this annually pie chart you see that about fifty percent of the electrics car power comes from coal. In total the emission of carbon dioxide is roughly 8000 lb annual per vehicle compared to  conventionals average of 13000 lb of carbon dioxide annual per vehicle. So from the data (See table 1 and Chart 1 ) collective electric cars produce about three fifths of the carbon pollution of a diesel car does annual. If fifty percent of drives where to switch to electric vehicles the would be a significantly large drop in carbon dioxide put into the air and thus reduce the effects of greenhouse gases dramatically over a small interval of time.

In a survey conducted by Ebgue and Long (2011), respondents referred to electric vehicles (EV) as “the way of the future” and the “future of travel”. This response does not imply that EVs are a viable vehicle for current use. Ebgue and Long (2011) state that people are often resistant to technology that is unfamiliar or unproven. This could be due to failure by manufacturers to better inform and market EVs to consumers or by the misconceptions that are already in place. Basic misunderstandings about EVs are common. Krause et al.’s

The electric car finds its inception in the mid 1800’s, sparked by Gaston Planté’s invention of the lead-acid storage battery in 1851, the original version of what we use in cars today. This battery would lead the way for many variations of electric powered

"The electric drive revolution will become accepted and advance over time, just like computers and cell phones have over the last few days (anonymous). Electric cars have been around for many years. But they just started coming back around in the 21st century. Before anyone who had charging stations they would have to switch out their battery for their electric car whenever it ran out. The electric cars were created to basically compete with gas-powered cars. They were also created to reduce the pollution created by gas cars. Countries all over the world have started to create more and more electric cars. In fact, in this exact moment Japan already has more charging stations than gas stations which could possibly mean that they already have more electric cars than gas cars. The first electric car was created in the early 1900 's by Thomas Edison. People are only starting to go back to electric cars because charging stations were invented. With charging stations in place now people won 't have to rely on gas stations and gas powered cars, they will only rely on the more environment friendly charging stations and electric cars. Also with electric cars you have a lot more options to pick from when it comes to batteries to buy and charge. You can use lead acid batteries, zinc air batteries, and many more. Plus using electricity instead of gas is a lot cheaper. With time, gas-powered cars will become extinct. Electric cars will continue to

Adams, Arain, Koutraskis, and Ferguson 1). Due to their recent gain in popularity, electric cars