7 reasons why Electric cars are good for environment

Reasons why Electric Cars are Good? Considering that electric vehicles don’t have exhaust systems and as a result don’t release greenhouse gases when driving, the answer to this question may appear obvious. However, electric vehicles (EVs) have a number of pollution-related drawbacks of their own. Notably, the components in their batteries such lithium demand a lot of energy to source and extract.

Unveiling the Truth Behind Their Environmental Impact

But just a small portion of an electric car’s lifespan is related to battery manufacture. The emissions from an EV’s entire life cycle — from mining the metals needed for the batteries to producing the electricity that powers them were examined in 2014. These emissions were then compared to the typical emissions of a gas-powered vehicle. The team discovered that electric vehicles really have a worse environmental impact than traditional gasoline automobiles when their electricity is generated by coal.

National Grids

National grids are now sufficiently clean in many areas of the world for EVs to outperform gasoline-powered vehicles in terms of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions throughout the course of their lifespan.

“Gasoline internal combustion engines only approach EVs on a greenhouse gas basis when connected to the dirtiest, coal-heavy electric grids,” said Colin Sheppard, a researcher with expertise in energy and transportation systems.

Coal as a primary source

There are very few locations where coal still serves as the sole or primary energy source for electric systems. One of them is China, where it was projected that coal provided 58% of the nation’s electricity in 2019 and it’s conceivable that some regions are still fully dependent on coal for power. However, China’s grid is improving as a result of increased expenditures in renewable energy sources. China develops more solar panels annually than any other nation and has twice the capacity for wind energy as the United States.

More renewable energy sources and less reliance on fossil fuels is a global trend that enhances the environmental benefits of electric vehicles. It will only grow better as grids turn greener during the course of an electric vehicle’s life.

The Switch: Reasons why Electric Cars are Good

Switching to all privately owned automobiles in the U.S. from gas-powered vehicles would result in a 46% yearly reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (or 0.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide). If those vehicles were put through so-called “controlled charging,” often referred to as “smart charging,” in which vehicles are recharged at carefully selected periods to reduce the cost of producing power, this reduction may be boosted even further. Charging at night is frequently less expensive than charging during the day; this tactic also encourages more effective energy production facilities that generate less expensive electricity. The amount of emissions that could be saved yearly if all privately owned electric cars were charged in this manner would be 49%.

This future involves a nation that uses a lot more renewable energy sources but hasn’t yet achieved carbon neutrality or a national grid that doesn’t accelerate global warming. The whole theoretical potential of electric vehicles under these conditions should be mapped out, even though significant political will and practical change are required to make this scenario a reality.

According to the study released in 2020, the lifetime repair and maintenance expenditures of an EV are around half as much as those of conventional cars with internal combustion engines. This is mainly because, unlike traditional engines, which can contain dozens of moving parts, electric motors only have one moving portion.

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