Gas VS Electric Vehicles

Gas VS Electric Vehicles

One of the biggest contributors to Global Warming, and by extension Climate Change, is gas powered vehicles. As of 2019, there were 276 million motor vehicles. They account for 28% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. There is a way that we can decrease and even eliminate that percentage. Electric Vehicles (EVs) are the solution to this problem.

Why should I buy an EV over a regular gas powered vehicle?

As you may know, regular vehicles burn fuel (usually gasoline or diesel) to generate energy. When the vehicle burns fuel, it creates water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) as a waste product. This is bad because carbon dioxide (CO2) (and to a lesser extent water (H2O)) is a greenhouse gas that contributes to Global Warming. By driving an EV, your car would not produce any harmful waste products. EVs are usually powered by a battery that needs to be recharged after about the same (or sometimes less) amount of miles a normal gas car gets on a tank of gas. There are also many benefits to owning an EV. I will be using Tesla as an example due to them being the most valuable car company in the world. Tesla’s are safer than any vehicle because it has to be to protect the massive battery powering them. And due to the fact that the battery weighs so much and is located at the bottom, it creates a low center of mass that prevents the vehicle from tipping when cornering or being hit. Tesla is committed to providing the world with the most safest vehicles that you can buy. If that doesn’t sell you, the amount of money that you will save from not paying for gas most definitely will. On average, an EV will save you over $600 a year on gas and maintenance costs. Are you sold yet?

If EVs are so great, what’s the catch?

Though being super environmentally friendly, the cost upfront for an electric vehicle is usually higher than a gas vehicle. The base price of a Tesla Model S will cost you 80 grand. If you can’t afford that, there are other, cheaper options out there that are more budget friendly. The trade offs of the cheaper options being not having a wide-spread charging networks and less safety features. There is also the downside that charging an EV takes longer than filling a car with gas. This has improved over the years and scientists are working on improving this as you are reading this. I even heard that they are working on what is called a million-mile battery. But if you account for how much you will be saving on gas and maintenance, and how much you will be helping the environment, you will see that owning an EV is better than paying for a gas powered vehicle.