What first comes to mind when you think of the word electric? Do you think of fierce lightning, bright light bulbs, or crazy science experiments? Now, what do you first think of when you hear cars? Do you think of annoying traffic, poorly constructed roads, or filling up with gas? What comes to mind when you think of electric cars? Some people think of an inexpensive way to get around that doesn’t make a terrible impact on the environment. Electric Cars, referred to as EVs, are the cars that will change the future.
The first EV came around in the 1880’s in Europe. In about 1891, William Morrison built the first American EV which was a six passenger vehicle powered by batteries under the seats. They became popular in America soon after. During the late 1800’s, more EVs were being driven than gas powered cars because they were quiet, easy to operate, and free of smelly fumes. They accounted for 38% of all the U.S. car sales. In the early 1900’s gas-powered cars became more powerful, performed better, needed less refueling and were cheaper to operate than electric cars. Also, many EVs could not go above 20 mph and needed to be recharged every 50 miles. By 1905 only 7% of the car sales in U.S. were EVs[And92]. They had nearly disappeared by the late 1920’s[Hav92].
Rising concern about air pollution and a growing shortage of petroleum, that is used to make gasoline, revitalized people’s opinion and interest in EVs in the 60’s. The limited production of EVs resumed in 1970; however, sales were still low because of high price, limited travelling range, poor performance and the lack of an inexpensive, powerful, durable and lightweight battery. In the 1980’s, manufactures started coming up with a car that had all of the components of an electric car but with an internal-combustion engine. They are known as Hybrid cars[Hav92].
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Some people feel that all cars are polluting the air, but electric cars do not, because they don’t release harmful emissions, they use a resource that we can create using natural means and they don’t use gasoline which wastes a vital resource in the world today.
Many people say that EVs are too weak, small, and not much fun to drive[Gur10]. They say they are not even dealing with the problem of air pollution because of what powers the battery. One person said, “Batteries don’t power EVs, power plants do. It [EVs] is better than gasoline cars in one way only, and only if the new energy source really is healthier for us than the one we are using now, which is oil. But is it?”[Reg08].
EVs in fact do help the environment more than most people think they do. The first thing is that they don’t release harmful emissions. Gasoline cars burn the gasoline and release hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxide into the air which pollutes it, endangers people’s health, and damages crops and livestock[And921]. The second thing is they use a resource that you can create using natural means.
“With electricity to power our transportation, our world can tap into renewable resources like hydroelectric, solar, wind, or geothermal power, resources that lessen our environmental footprint [impact]”[Ano08]. The last thing is that EVs don’t use gasoline which is a key part in today’s world. “Gasoline is a precious natural resource and vital to the world economy. EVs use no gasoline and require no oil changes. Using less fossil fuel can help relieve our current energy shortages while ensuring that future generations can rely on the same inexpensive, useful, petroleum products that we all take for granted”[Ano08].
EVs originated in the 1880’s, but didn’t last long because of their inefficiency. They came back around 1970 with the rising concern about air pollution. Some people still oppose them, because they think they are still inefficient and require high maintenance.
References
- U.S. Department of Energy – Electric Vehicles
- New York Times – Electric and Hybrid Vehicles
- Bloomberg – Electric Vehicles
- Tesla
- Consumer Reports – Buying Guide for Electric Cars
- Plugless Power Blog
- Electrek – EV and Tesla News, Green Energy, Ebikes, and More
- InsideEVs | Electric Vehicle News, Reviews, and Reports
- Clean Technica – Electric Cars
