The idea for the electric car has been around for several years. EVs, short for electric vehicles, come in four types: the purely battery-operated vehicles, hybrid gas and electric vehicles (plug-in and non-plug-in), and fuel cell operated. These kinds of cars run primarily on electrical power, as opposed to a conventional car that runs on petrol based fuels. Because of this, they are seen as the poster children of green transportation. There has been some debate on whether or not these EVs actually leave less of a carbon footprint in their wakes. Researchers have observed that the factories producing EVs tend to produce many more pollutants than a daily-driving, conventional vehicle and the infrastructure of our transportation would require
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Yet electric cars have not seen a great increase in sales over the past decade. When the first gasoline-hybrid vehicles hit the road they had a painfully slow upstart. Some of the factors holding electric cars back would be the high cost of production, short driving range, recharge times, and the need for advanced dependable batteries. The batteries themselves, however, are part of the biggest contributor to emissions. Electric cars may produce fewer emissions, but the factories that make the cars produce “8.8 tonnes” (Nikiforuk, 1) of CO2 while a gas powered car only produces “5.6 tonnes” (Nikiforuk, 1) of CO2 to make. The “battery (of an EV) accounts for nearly half of that” (Nikiforuk, 1). EVs must be paired up with factories that run on cleaner energy in order for them to make a big difference in reducing emissions. A good fix for the emissions of factories is to switch them off coal burning and onto low-carbon fuels. Hydropower, geothermal power, and nuclear power can greatly reduce the CO2 emissions produced in making electric cars. Only when successfully paired with greener energy factories will electric cars actually begin to make a difference in the reduction of emissions.
Even so, traffic jams are inevitable. While idling, all cars will produce emissions. On one hand, these numbers seem to point towards the usage of electric cars as a positive, on the other hand, in order for electric cars to be practical, the entire transportation infrastructure would need to make some changes. The amount of time and money needed to create such a new infrastructure may be the very thing that kills off electric cars. This evidence will help me prove that electric cars are more of a hassle than they are beneficial in reducing CO2
Yet electric cars have not seen a great increase in sales over the past decade. When the first gasoline-hybrid vehicles hit the road they had a painfully slow upstart. Some of the factors holding electric cars back would be the high cost of production, short driving range, recharge times, and the need for advanced dependable batteries. The batteries themselves, however, are part of the biggest contributor to emissions. Electric cars may produce fewer emissions, but the factories that make the cars produce “8.8 tonnes” (Nikiforuk, 1) of CO2 while a gas powered car only produces “5.6 tonnes” (Nikiforuk, 1) of CO2 to make. The “battery (of an EV) accounts for nearly half of that” (Nikiforuk, 1). EVs must be paired up with factories that run on cleaner energy in order for them to make a big difference in reducing emissions. A good fix for the emissions of factories is to switch them off coal burning and onto low-carbon fuels. Hydropower, geothermal power, and nuclear power can greatly reduce the CO2 emissions produced in making electric cars. Only when successfully paired with greener energy factories will electric cars actually begin to make a difference in the reduction of emissions.
Even so, traffic jams are inevitable. While idling, all cars will produce emissions. On one hand, these numbers seem to point towards the usage of electric cars as a positive, on the other hand, in order for electric cars to be practical, the entire transportation infrastructure would need to make some changes. The amount of time and money needed to create such a new infrastructure may be the very thing that kills off electric cars. This evidence will help me prove that electric cars are more of a hassle than they are beneficial in reducing CO2