Purely-electric cars are
not sustainable, in my opinion, because they cost more than traditional cars
and the maintenance fees for an electric car are also higher than traditional
cars as well. Instead, I think that hybrid
cars are a much better solution in today’s society. First off because they do use a gas engine,
they can travel much further than an electric car without having to refuel. Secondly the more rural areas of our country
would also be more receptive to a hybrid vehicle than an electric one as well. I would also contend that the hybrid would
just be better accepted on a general scale because most people consider it a
more middle choice than a pure electric car.
Although there downsides to hybrid which from the fact that according to
a study done by the US
Department of Energy hybrid car production does make more greenhouse gasses
and use up more fossil fuels during their production in comparison to a regular
car. Of course, that environmental impacts
made by hybrids does outweigh this because a conventional car does use up more
energy to operate and makes more greenhouse gasses than a hybrid
There is also the point that no one is talking about the waste from the batteries inside electric cars either. According to NewsScientist that today’s lithium-ion car battery were not designed for recycling, because of that they are not easy to recycle. This issue also arises from the unfortunate fact that standardization among batteries between carmakers has not been done nor will in any reasonable time. The NewsScientist article also points out that there is no strategy currently for dealing with the waste from car batteries and that this oversight could be environmentally disastrous for the future.
I responded to Stuart McLean
and Heather Faulkner
I should have 18 points
Actually I just read a piece suggesting that the sustainability and affordability of e-cars has already arrived in Europe. It'll take longer to fully arrive here, but if we're really a consumer-driven society then it's up to us to drive new demand-for the cars and the infrastructure to support them.
ReplyDeleteThe Age of Electric Cars Is Dawning Ahead of Schedule
DeleteBattery prices are dropping faster than expected. Analysts are moving up projections of when an electric vehicle won’t need government incentives to be cheaper than a gasoline model.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/20/business/electric-cars-batteries-tesla-elon-musk.html?smid=em-share
I think that Hybrid are a really good option to bring more people to buy more environmental friendly cars. Most people do not know enough about it, in order to really make an educated decision about it. Financially, it is also still a big deal, because we are not at the point where this is not one of the biggest factors. Most, may have the goal of being better for the environment but cannot afford it.
ReplyDeleteOnce we get to the point that a lot of people have these cars, we will also have a better infrastructure, meaning more stations to charge them and a better price. With the demand, comes the will of the companies to also make it more attractive to the customer.
However, I am very hopeful that in a few years from now we can have affordable cars and a solution for the problem of the batteries that Tyler is talking about. Electric cars are still our future, because I do not see a way that our traditional cars can ever be not a threat to our environment.