Materials and Methods Source #1 In the first article, Electric Vehicles vs Gasoline Vehicles: A Cost and Emissions Comparison, the cost and GHG emissions of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), electric vehicles (EVs), and standard gasoline cars were compared. All the numbers used in the research were based on averages in the Midwestern region of the United States, and was published June 2nd, 2011 at 10:53 a.m. Its goal was to measure how much better, or worse, any type of electric car is compared to your standard gas car. It also compared how much it costs you to drive per mile. The source believes hybrid vehicles actually hurt the environment more than it preserves. To calculate the cost per mile, they took the average power used for PHEVs per 100 miles, 35 Kwh, and multiplied that by the average cost per Kwh in residential regions, $0.11. Then, it takes into account the cost to get a charging station at your home. This really drives up the cost of electric vehicles because it cost $50 to $90 for a subscription every month. After that, the emissions per mile was calculated for all three cars by calculating the average. The regional average for hybrid cars ' 35 Kwh per 100 miles. It also took into account the regions power plant GHG emissions from natural gas and coal. Source #2 In the second article, Emissions from Hybrid and Plug-In Electric Vehicles, the types of energy used to make power for PHEVS, gas cars, and EVs
“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
Electric cars can also save you money because they do not need gas, but people still say that Electric cars are so much more expensive to buy. For example, the 2011 Nissan LEAF SL has an Manufactured suggested retail price also known as (MSRP) of $33,7207, the four door 2011 Honda Civic Si offers many of the similar features for price of %$24,4051. That’s over $9,000 cheaper. But there is a catch, the United states government is offering $7,500 in federal tax rebate for the purchases of a new Electric cars. Many states like California offer an extra $5,000 payment through 2015. That’s a total of $12,500 saving already! In terms of fuel price, if you drive the Honda Civic 15,000 miles per year for five years, the cost for gas would be approximately $10,057. For the same mileages on a LEAF will cost only $3,000
Gas powered cars are one of the major causes of global warming , and air pollution. Gas powered cars are able to create a lot of carbon dioxide that harm the environment. These cars can also spill certain fluids that can harm the environment. Some of these fluids are motor-oil, gasoline and brake fluid. These fluids can harm humans as well as animals, and can pollute our water systems. Electric cars on the other hand are better for the environment. They use half the energy of a gas powered car, so they don’t cause as much pollution in the air. They also use cleaner energy; electricity, which doesn’t harm the environment as much as
The number one reason why electric cars became popular is the ability to reduce the air pollution. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) almost 30% of greenhouse gas emissions are caused by transportation and most of them could be reduced by driving electric cars. The UK Department for Transport divides vehicle emissions in two categories: direct and life cycle. Direct emission are created by burning fuels while driving on the road. Petrol, diesel, and other alternative-fuel engines produce very high amounts of gases, that not only have impact on our health, but also on climate change. Gases like NO or CO2, that are known for causing many different respiratory illness. There is an estimate of 29,000 deaths a
The second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States is related to transportation, the burning of oil to produce energy in a combustion motor. The combustion process inside of engines is what produces the carbon matter that is emitted into the air through the exhaust system on gas-powered vehicles. Gas-powered transportation is accountable for 24 percent of the global carbon emissions; this should not come as much of a surprise given the amount of urban sprawl that is being seen in the United States and across the globe. In the past decade, the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States government, and major car manufacturers have been working in conjunction to find ways to provide a “greener” form of transportation (EPA, 2011). This has included testing the use of hydropower, ethanol, natural gas, biodiesel, and electricity as a means of powering vehicles, which has led to the introduction of hybrid vehicles. Hybrid vehicles run on electricity and gasoline, the byproduct of oil that is generally used in the engine combustion process of vehicles (U.S. Department of
courteously present their electric car and entice you to commit to them with their “Gasoline cars are bad for the environment, so go electric...”. It’s not as if one time is enough, either! They show it the first time: okay it catches my attention. Oh wait. There it is again. And again. And again. I’m sick of it! You see, what these self-proclaimed environmentalists don’t observe is that the gasoline-powered automobiles have no proper solution yet. The electric vehicle is simply a gimmick that has been actively conning consumers for years. Yet none of us consumers have batted an eye and reconsidered this evolving movement? Most of us are idiots.
Electric cars impose a serious risk on the oil and gas industry. The extent by which this market succeeds reciprocally defines the extent by which the oil and gas industry deteriorates. As with all forms of technology, there comes a point in time where one form of technology no longer appears to be useful in comparison with an applicable alternative. The current inhibitors of electric car adoption are the price of batteries and vehicle performance. With that being said, battery prices dropped over 30% just last year and are expected to continue dropping. Projections estimate that 35% of cars will have a plug by 20401. However, even in the next few years, companies such as Tesla, Chevrolet, and Nissan plan to offer electric cars on the market at an affordable price. The question then becomes: when the oil and gas market will be displaced by the electric market? If both markets produce a vehicle of similar price and quality, then it is reasonable to assume that a customer will choose the option that is more eco-friendly. The moral issue still remains: should the vehicles of tomorrow be fueled by gasoline or are viable options readily available and acceptable?
Climate change and transportation play a big role and it is important to be concerned for our future generations. The use of gasoline cars is a major producer in carbon dioxide emissions, although they are not entirely responsible for it—they play a role in it. Other form of transportations like buses and taxis also contribute to carbon dioxide emissions. The total amount of carbon dioxide emissions from an average car is seventy six percent which comes from usage of a vehicle containing gasoline. Efficiency has increased by twenty percent in regards to electric motors, especially when it comes to their wheels using no power when the car is at rest. Car ownership will increase and with this, improvements in technology could be a vital
Through all of this information, Tesla and traditional gas powered car owners have learned more about the Tesla and how it is not as environmentally friendly as society may portray it to be. Hopefully the readers of this paper learn that you must be educated before they buy a certain product.
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.
Through life journey most everybody had a car at one point in time but not too many people had an electric car. In a one on one interview with Marland Patton, who is a mechanic, give his advice on the electric car. His thoughts on the electric car was it has it benefits and loses. He goes on to say that, the maintenance cost yearly greatly exceed the amount of gas 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.
In fact, depending on where the electricity that is being put into the vehicle originates and the type of vehicle, electric cars are not all great. Due to the nature of batteries used, electric cars have a limited range, around eighty to a hundred miles, long charging times, and disastrously high costs (Berman). The Tesla Model S for example, costs roughly 70,000 dollars; even the Chevy Volt is 38,000 dollars (Perlow). Average families simply do not have the money to pay for such expensive vehicles even if they are cheaper to run. In accordance with high costs, EVs are not practical long-distance travelers because they have a limited range before the batteries run out of electricity and you are left stranded in the middle of nowhere. Furthermore, when it does come time to charge, the average is one hour for twenty to twenty-five miles of range if you can actually find a charging port. Do the math and that adds up to four hours for only one hundred miles of driving. Some Volkswagen Passat TDIs that run on biodiesel average 600 miles on one tank that can be filled in less than ten minutes (Perlow). But perhaps most importantly, the electricity that is primarily being used to charge these new cars comes from a power plant that may or may not be polluting the earth. Sixty-four percent of United States residents obtain their electricity from either a coal or natural gas power plant which put thousands of
Climate change occurs mainly because of human activities, such as harvesting resources, industrialization, and technological invention, among other factors. One of the main reasons climate change has occurred in the last a few decades is because conventional cars which made their first appearance in 1886, have become increasingly popular. Although, conventional cars are more efficient and less expensive than hybrid cars, hybrid cars help reduce the negative impact on the environment more than conventional cars. A Hybrid car has disadvantages due to the battery and power of the engine, which has to improve over time, which makes people less likely to buy hybrid cars over conventional cars in the present such as gas and diesel. Even though both conventional and electric cars have negative impact on the environment, they have different scale of impact on the environment. By looking at how each system of both types of cars work, what the effect on fuel consumption rate and greenhouse gas emissions are, and what the disadvantages of electric cars are compared to conventional cars, hybrid electric cars are less likely to negatively impact on the environment more than conventional cars.
There is a serious problem facing the world right now. It is air pollution. The number one contributor to this epidemic is automobile emissions. We have all heard of the issues that are involved with air pollution including the depletion of the o-zone layer, the green house effect, and acid rain. The problem has been scoped from every imaginable angle, and now it is time to solve the problem. I propose that each of the ‘Big Three’ (Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler) car manufacturers be required to have 10% of their product line as EV’s By the year 2010. I propose this because it will be the start of cleaner air, EV advancement, and awareness of EV’s and how they work.