Electric Plug-in Cars
by Bryan Jones
Benefits of Electric Vehicles
Electric cars are great energy efficient vehicles where up to 62% of the electrical energy is converted to power the car opposed to the 21% that is converted by traditional gasoline powered engines. Purchasing electric vehicles also saves the buyer thousands of dollars as many cars get more than 100 MPGe. This lowers CO2 emissions while being a responsible buy. The use of electric vehicles allows the production of zero emission, renewable energy sources to power the vehicles such as hydro,solar, and wind energy.
Ford Focus Electric
110 MPGe
Tesla Model S
89 MPGe
Nissan Leaf
99 MPGe
Problems with Electric Vehicles
Disadvantages
Despite the powerful benefits of electric vehicles, some disadvantages do exist. The battery can need up to 4-8 hours to fully charge. Electric cars also travel less miles before recharging when compared to traditional ICE engines. Finally, The large electric batteries can be expensive to replace. This could be needed 1 or more times throughout the life of the vehicle.
The Motivation to go Electric
As technology progresses and our population increases, more CO2 and other greenhouse gasses are being poured into the atmosphere. As more and more people switch to electric vehicles, our distribution of greenhouse gasses can be dramatically reduced as clean sources of energy can be used. Our car is something that we all use everyday. Because of this, changing the way we drive can have a huge impact on the environment as we move forward. Also, our oil reserves are running out and the gas prices are on the rise. As our reserves get depleted, prices will shoot up and soon electric vehicles will be our only option. To protect our dwindling reserves, purchasing electric vehicles must be done to complete the task
How to Act
The best way you can contribute to improve the environment and your wallet is to save to purchase an electric vehicle, a hybrid car, or at least a car with high MPG. Below are some links to help identify some electric vehicles and hybrids.