The Environmental Impact Of Electric Vehicles

The world produces around 85 million barrels of oil each day. About a quarter of that percentage goes to the United States of America, which is used up mostly by means of transportations. Most people get around from place to place using a car, a car that is powered by fuel. Everywhere one goes driving, they will eventually run into a gas station but not a charging station for electric cars. Regular cars, burn off fuel that produce emissions (carbon, nitrogen, sulfur) that pollute and harm the environment. Although, there are some positives about switching there are also some problems that could appear but could be fixed. Electric cars have the potential to reduce the amount of pollution in the environment, boost the national economy and help

“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

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 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

Abstract—In this modern era, many advancements in technology have been witnessed. Research and data collected around the world have allowed for these advancements to take place. This has allowed for a better understanding of the footprint humans leave on the environment. As a result, this has allowed for the planet to become eco-friendlier. An eco-friendly advancement in the 21st century is the electric vehicle. There are a plethora of benefits using electric vehicles. Some advantages include no emissions, cost-effective, and low maintenance.

There has been lots of controversy on whether hybrid vehicles are environmentally better than gas vehicles. In this new age of technology and vast growth of human population, there would have to be ways to make driving environmentally healthy considering the fact that millions of people drive(Goffman, “Electric Car Batteries Could Provide Energy for the Smart Grid”). Hybrid cars use clean electric , while gas powered cars use harmful polluting fossil fuels. For the most part, to make sure that this world becomes cleaner, hybrid cars will definitely need to be used in the future. Hybrid cars are environmentally better than gas cars.

1. No emissions. One of the big reasons EVs are so attractive to some is that they emit absolutely no emissions. If you are worried about your direct impact on the environment, an electric vehicle will allay those concerns.

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

Electric cars may not be as environmentally friendly as society portrays them to be. Forbes.com states that electric cars tend to be just as polluting to the environment as traditional gas powered cars. In order to transfer energy to the charging station for the cars, the factory that makes the energy must burn carbon in order to power the charging station. The charging stations are what produce the pollution, not the vehicle. Although there has been a push for alternative energy in automotive production, electric cars are just as contaminating to the atmosphere as traditional gas-powered cars.

Electric cars are becoming more and more a part of the world today. Society can see them everywhere, from the streets to TV. Car companies like Nissan and Chevy have their own line up of electric cars that perform well. Now one of the most popular car companies, Tesla, can make the Lamborghini of electric cars. To help lower emission levels and jumpstart the industry, the federal government offers a $7,500 tax credit for buyers of pure electric vehicles (Schaal, 2015). Which brings up some common questions; are all these changes in the car industry a good change from the traditional gas engine and are electric cars truly better than Gas powered vehicles making gas powered vehicles slowly become obsolete. Electric cars barely have any maintenance needed compared to gas powered vehicles. Emissions

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 Money Living association explains that, “With gas stations and auto repair shops around every corner, owning a gas car is both convenient and easy” (“The Benefits Of Gas Vs. Electric Cars” Par. 2). This means that regular gasoline powered cars are more convenient. There are gas stations everywhere for when a car needs to get “charged up” again. Instead of waiting a few hours, a car could have a full tank in less than 5 mins. Whenever a car needs fixing there are many body shops around or mechanic shops to get a car fixed. What this argument does not take into account is that electric vehicles are better than gasoline powered cars. Electric cars are safer than gas cars. They are helpful and friendly to the environment. Electric cars don’t pollute the earth. Electric cars are more efficient than gas cars. These electric cars are less problematic, when it comes to replacing or fixing something under the hood. Unlike gas cars there is oil and electric cars don’t have any oil. Which is a good thing, to be cleaner. Electric cars don’t burn any gas which makes the car more

 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.

However, (Weiller, 2011) presented that a number of existing investigations have found that plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) have emissions advantage more than hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and conventional vehicles considerably when representing grid emissions [1–4]. Furthermore, EPRI, 2007; Yang, 2009; Yeh, 2009). Jamarillo et al. (2009) Find that PHEVs have the ability to reducing emissions by 6-16 % compared to conventional gasoline vehicles, even in the case of electricity use coal without carbon capture and storage is used to power transportation. (ElNozahy, 2015) Pointed that an additionally examine in the U.S [9, 10] indicated that though 43% of the U.S Light-obligation vehicle fleet is supplanted by PHEVs, the aggregate

Everyday people use cars to get from one place to another, whether that’s from their home to work or from work to the airport or even city thousands of miles away. Cars especially in the United States are hailed as efficient forms of transportation because of their ease of use and relative affordability. However, in recent years with the rise in crude oil prices and the demand for more efficient vehicles alternative fuel sources have gained more traction than in the past. However, the many caveats of complex technology and increased price are major drawbacks which must be considered when looking at electric cars. In the end electric cars are better for the environment due to increased performance and reduced overall CO2 emissions.