Comparing Emissions: Gasoline Cars vs Electric Vehicles

 Effects of climate changing are becoming more apparent every day. It’s up to every one of us to do what we can to change the course of climate change, as well as the wealthier to stop excessive emissions from private jets.

Most of the population in the USA accepts that climate change is caused by human actions, and it’s up to us to do something. Exploring options for sustainable transportation is a big step towards doing our part to stop polluting the air and live in a cleaner, healthier world.

Electric vehicles are a big topic of discussion, and sometimes contention. There are plenty of skeptics who raise viable arguments against sustainability of EVs. In this article, we want to represent arguments on both sides and try to compare environmental footprint of vehicles with internal combustion engines vs electric cars.

In the last few years, researchers have been working to measure the extent to which EVs can be solution to our problems. This article will be a summary of this research, and a bit of our own opinion on the subject.

Emissions from Vehicle Production

It seems obvious that electric vehicles are more environmentally friendly than cars with ICEs. However, it’s not that simple. We need to consider environmental footprint throughout the lifecycle of the car.

You may be surprised to learn that manufacturing an EV causes more emissions than manufacturing ICEs. This is not surprising, considering batteries and all the raw materials that go into building reliable electric vehicles. However, EVs more than make up for it on the road. Plus, as time goes on, and more car manufacturers enter this space, technology for manufacturing EVs will get leaner and more efficient. As a result, we will see reduction in emissions from manufacturing these cars.

Studies confirm that once they hit the road, EVs more than make up for more expensive manufacturing process. As it stands today, they are definitely greener than normal cars.

Emissions when driving

Once on the road, EVs are a lot less destructive to the environment than traditional ICE cars. They are more efficient with the energy and feel better to drive as well. We still don't know when the Tesla Model Y 2024 is coming out, but it will likely have more aerodynamic design, similar to the new Model 3. EVs are easier to maintain as well. They don’t require oil changes, or many repairs to anything.

Impact of Fuel Source

Source of electricity is often overlooked, but a very important factor that affects cleanness of EVs. Electricity still has to come from somewhere. In more sunny regions of the US, electricity often comes from renewable sources like solar panels. These are the cleanest sources of energy, but we still need to keep in mind that building solar panels likely still led to emissions.

Even nuclear and hydroelectric sources of energy are relatively clean compared to electricity we get from fossil fuels, like coal, oil, diesel, and such.

EVEI is a metric that measures electric car’s emissions based on the source of electricity. It changes from one region to another. Different regions in the USA have many different ways to generate electricity. This makes sense, considering that ours is a large country with different climates, water resources, and different levels of access to raw materials and fossil fuels.

Homeowners in California and other sunny places can install solar panels and use free electricity from this renewable source to charge their cars for free. As a result, owning an EV is not only good and moral, but also beneficial to your bottom line.

 

Hope for the future

Even if EVs are not as clean as we would like them to be, western governments are actively encouraging adoption of EVs. As production lines and engineering expertise become more common, it is likely that manufacturing, quality of batteries, and even cars themselves will become much better.

It’s important to keep in mind that ICEs have been around for more than one hundred years. Electric vehicles have entered mainstream only few years ago. If you look at the new Model 3, it is truly a great car with a beautiful aerodynamic design. Interior feels luxurious. Most importantly, it is likely to cost only around $45,000 in the US.

Because of all these factors, I am hopeful that EVs will be even more competitive than they are today.

Tesla Interior

Tesla offers a lot of customization options when you order their cars. One of the most interesting is the option to choose color for the interior. White costs $1000 more, but many Tesla owners think futuristic look of the white interior justifies the additional cost. This article will tell you everything there is to know about Tesla white seats vs black.

Comparative Analysis

Researchers have tracked and calculated greenhouse emissions of EVs compared to EVs. They accounted for the entire lifecycle – from production to years of driving on the road. The results were not surprising – EVs emit about half of emissions of normal ICE cars. Not to mention the fact that EVs can help maintain cleaner air quality, which is beneficial for humans’ health.

Conclusion

Manufacturing electric vehicles remains a real challenge. Emissions are higher than ones from manufacturing ICEs. There’s no denying that manufacturers like Tesla need to step up their game to make production lines cleaner. Otherwise, it might feel unfair that cars like Tesla get a reputation for being ‘green’.

Next concern is the electricity. Depending on where electricity comes from, electric cars can be truly green, or have relatively high emissions, similar to hybrid cars like Toyota Prius. Development of renewable sources of electricity give us hope, but there’s still long way to go. Fortunately, governments in western world are actively trying to move on from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy. If this trend continues, electric cars will become much cleaner and friendly to the environment. I personally think nuclear energy will play a big role in generating clean electricity at the scale we need to make this work.

All things considered, EVs are clearly step in the right direction. If we are ever going to stop climate change, we will need EVs. Even if these cars will play an important role, they alone cannot save the earth. That will likely be the combination of changes to human behavior, different cultural attitudes to consumption, and government regulation to encourage cleaner manufacturing processes.