How Sustainable is your Electric Car, really?
Ishika Pothini
Believed to be the answer to harmful vehicle emissions, electric cars, or EVs, have grown in popularity. They are believed to hold many benefits compared to conventional internal combust engine automobiles. For instance, they have lower operating and maintenance costs, produce little or no local air pollution, reduce dependence on petroleum, and they use less energy than standard gas or diesel cars.
So what's the catch? Since EVs rose to prominence in the 2000s, critics have been skeptical. There are factors when considering the economic sustainability of them. One factor is the "wheel-to-wheel" emission. This takes into consideration the amount of greenhouse gases and air pollutants emitted to produce the energy powering the car. When taking wheel-to-wheel emissions into account, electric vehicles produce 4,450 pounds of CO2 equivalent which is fairly similar to emissions of a conventional car, if not more.
Another issue surrounding the increase in demand of EVs is the pollution behind the manufacturing process of their batteries. The battery is composed of a rare earth metals. However, when these metals are extracted and manipulated, more CO2 is emitted than standard vehicles. According to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICTT) reports that Chinese and American battery manufacturers can produce anywhere from 60-66% more CO2 during manufacturing which is more than the average emission from gas cars. How is an electric car saving the earth if its causing the same negative effects as a conventional vehicle?
Although electrically powered cars, like Tesla, do not directly emit any carbon especially in high volume areas, their production and use does indirectly have the same, if not more, detrimental contribution to our earth's supply of greenhouse gases. In reality, we believe electric cars will solve our vehicle emission problem when the practical solution lies in the use of public transportation, bikes, walking, trains, etc. We cannot solve the growing greenhouse gas issue if we do not enforce these practices.
Questions:
- How did your previous conceptions around electric cars change?
- Do you own an electric car? If so, how will what you know now affect your opinion of it?
- What alternate practices could we begin in order to actually make a change in the world's growing production of greenhouse gases?
Sources:
https://www.energysage.com/electric-vehicles/advantages-of-evs/evs-environmental-impact/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesellsmoor/2019/05/20/are-electric-vehicles-really-better-for-the-environment/#3e8d0b0476d2
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/06/why-electric-vehicles-make-drivers-anxious/592585/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_aspects_of_the_electric_car
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/electric-cars-are-clean-but-their-batteries-can-be-dirty/
19 comments:
Electric cars are most likely the future of human transportation. Right now they seem so simple and like the easy way out, but humans need to keep doing intense research in order to grasp their true effect on our industries and environments. My family and I do not own an electric car. There are so many different ways that humans could help limit the production of greenhouse gases such as companies changing how they produce items in order to reduce their emissions. However, the main issue is trying to actually convince the people that are in control of these industries to actually breed change that would not benefit them now, but that would benefit their grandchildren.
I am surprised to hear that electrical cars are not much safer than conventional cars due to their manufacturing processes. I am aware that the extraction of rare-earth metals are consequential, but I did not know how electrical cars were produced with rare-earth metals. The production of these cars should be done with more caution and done differently. Studies should be conducted to conclude what method of production could cause the least amount of carbon emissions.
I used to believe that electric cars were beneficial for the environment, especially since they do not require gasoline. After reading this, I see that they are not much of help compared to conventional cars. Even after reading the textbook I saw how they used rare minerals, which affected the environment. But, now that they are not even helpful with emissions, I truly see past the excitement with these cars. I myself do not own an electric car, and if I ever get the option to I will consider these facts. We can reduce emissions in many other ways, such as controlling industries and reducing deforestation.
I was definitely surprised to hear this, considering that so many people believe electric cars will help a lot. We have not researched enough about the other factors that go into making electric cars, since it is a commonly known solution. I think electric cars can still be a good solution, but after reading this we should focus on fixing the way we produce them. I also think public transportation can be a better means of reducing CO2 admissions. We also need to educate people more about the issue.
I never had any conceptions about electric cars because I thought they are the new generation of cars and they have advantages than a gas car such as using less energy, no air pollution, and less car trouble. However, after seeing this post, I never thought of their manufacturing processes. No, I don’t own an electric car and not planning to get one. We can reduce emissions in other ways, such as recycle, support clean energy resources, or even reduce deforestation.
I find this topic to be very interesting. In general, our society has adapted to the understanding that electric cars are our saviors in the epidemic that is climate change. The fact that this might not be true scares me. What are our options if even our only solutions have effects almost equivalent to those of the problem? The fact that the electric car uses a roughly equivalent amount of fossil fuels and has a battery that has been considered an issue is met with much surprise in my eyes. Despite this, I would still buy an electric car if I had the option to due to the fact it has been proven to decrease emissions in our breathing air and, simply, for the clout.
While this does surprise me, it doesn’t change my view of how transportation should shift from fossil fuels to mass transit. Electric cars are still way better for the environment than conventional cars, so they are still valuable to saving the world in the mean time. Countries like the US are way too sprawled out to just switch straight from driving your F-150 everywhere to taking a bus to the train stop to get around town. We need something to hold us over until we can get to that stage, and electric cars are our best option.
This did not change my conceptions around electric cars. I do not own an electric car, I wish I did though. I do think the positives of electric cars, like Tesla, would help to reduce emissions of CO2. Since most people can not afford an electric car, alternate practices goes straight to corporations to prevents the production of greenhouse gases.
As far as the cost concerns go, new technologies always begin expensive and thus not available to everyone. However, as people purchases the new innovation, the production process becomes more efficient. Eventually the supply will increase, and the cost will decrease. Although public transportation on a mass-scale is the most eco-friendly, electric cars are alternatives to traditional car transportation and will most likely gain popularity in the near future.
this didn't change my conception of electric cars, no I don't own a electric car there are so many ways that people can change that can help reduce the emmisions of greenhouse gasses because as said in the passage that mainly cars are the main cause for greenhouse emmisions and that is one reason why we should change to other sources such as railways or other less emitting sources
I would definitely buy an electric car if it used renewable energy and looked nice. This was interesting because I never knew that electric cars still had a significant effect on the environment. But personally, I don’t think solar or wind powered cars are efficient enough to be used in everyday life just yet. But in the future, they may be, after people find a way to maximize the energy created by these sources. And again, I would definitely buy one if it helps the environment.
Even though electric cars have a lot of environmental problems with their production, its still bettter than cars that use petroleum. Producing a car is a one time thing, while gas is continuous and it leads to climate change. Although its slower it can add up over time. This has made me realize that there is nothing that’s perfect for the environment, but we as a race are starting to progress towards a clean environment.
I was under the false impression that electrical cars were better for the environment, but after reviewing the total carbon emission these cars require for their production and the harm it causes the environment I had to reevaluate my thoughts on these cars. Even though they sound like a good alternative to the standard green house emitting cars, these electrical cars seam to cause the environment just as much harm. People should look to an alternative solution
No, this doesn’t change my perception of electric cars. I do still believe that they are better for the environment. I do not own an electric car. All cars are going to create some sort of emissions, and electric cars seem to be the best option. An alternate practice we could do would be public transportation. This would reduce the worlds growing production of greenhouse gases.
I never realized how much harm electric cars can cause to the environment. However, I still think that using electric cars is a better alternative than using a regular car. Overtime when they get more popular the prices will go down and will be available to more people which will decrease CO2 emissions.
As I have said before, I believe that Electric vehicles, such as Teslas, could be the future of transportation. But after reading this blog, I’m not so sure of that anymore. Yes, the process of making electric batteries Emits a large amount of CO2, but that’s kind of like a one and done deal- unlike your traditional car engine that continuously relies on fossil fuels. I do not own an electric vehicle but in all honesty my conceptions around electric cars have not really changed. I think a good solution to these some of these problems is to maybe limit the creation of electric vehicles but most importantly invest in it for the public use as transportation.
I didn’t know that electric cars were actually this bad for the environment. I don’t own an electric car. Invest in full electric public transportation and not just cars to decrease a substantial amount of CO2 emissions.
Electric cars have the potential to be the future of transportation, but if it's construction requires a large amount of CO2 what is the point. We have to provide incentives for companies to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction of electric cars, and also to find different materials to construct batteries for electric cars.
I found it very surprising that electric cars produce as much pollution as conventional cars. Salespeople market electric cars so well by saying that they have low to no emissions, we forget to think about the emissions created while building the car and the fuel for the car. While my perception is changed, I still believe that electric cars are a better alternative to conventional cars in places where public transportation is not viable.
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