IND301 Milestone 5 Template
Introduction paragraph (approx. 150–200 words):
In the year 2016, Americans purchased approximately 17.5 million vehicles; less than 1% of these sales were electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Meanwhile, other nations, like China and Norway, have eclipsed the United States in electric vehicle market share (Sperling, 2018). These is no doubt from the international scientific community that carbon emissions from traditional internal combustion engine vehicles contribute significantly to climate change, and that electric vehicles represent a viable strategy to curb the automotive industry’s negative impact on the environment. Why then do electric vehicle sales still lag in the United States and what can be done to increase sales? The US government should increase the incentives for the production and consumption of electric cars because the United States is falling behind other nations in market share of electric cars, they are still too expensive for most consumers, and research demonstrates that electric cars are effective at reducing carbon emissions, which contribute to climate change.
Outline:
I. Supporting Point 1
A. Topic sentence: The United States, once a world leader in automotive innovation, is quickly falling behind other nations in electric vehicle market share.
B. Supporting detail: “The United States currently has the largest number of electric vehicles on the road, with almost 43 percent of all EVs sold in the U.S. However, EVs only comprised less than 1% of new car sales in the U.S. as of 2014” (Noori & Tatari, 2016).
C. Supporting detail: The largest EV market is China, with more than half of the world’s EV sales (Sperling, 2018).
D. Supporting detail: European Parliament and EU set 2020 targets for EVs and charging stations in all EU member states (Noori & Tatari, 2016).
E. Explanation of evidence: It is clear that if the United States wants to speed the transition from internal combustion to electric vehicles, the government needs to keep pace with the global market and look to leaders in the space, like China and the European Union.
II. Supporting Point 2
A. Topic sentence: However, the biggest hurdle to the United States keeping pace with global trends on electric vehicle consumption is the cost for consumers.
B. Supporting detail: [Continue adding paraphrased information or quotations from your sources as supporting details as in the examples above.]
C. Supporting detail:
D. Supporting detail:
E. Explanation of evidence:
III. Supporting Point 3
A. Topic sentence:
B. Supporting detail:
C. Supporting detail:
D. Supporting detail:
E. Explanation of evidence:
IV. Countering Opposing Perspectives
A. Topic sentence: Some researchers have argued that the shift from traditional vehicles to electric vehicles should be slowed, not quickened because of their potentially harmful effects on the environment.
B. Supporting detail: The manufacture of electric vehicles actually causes more pollution than traditional vehicles (Li et al., 2015).
C. Refuting detail: However, once they are on the road, the net benefits of EVs compared to traditional vehicles outweigh the increased costs in manufacturing. Li et al. (2015) argue that EVs produce less heat than traditional vehicles and thus “mitigate urban heat island effect (UHIE)” in large cities like Beijing, reducing summer heat island intensity by .94 degrees Celsius, reducing the energy consumption by air conditioners considerably.
D. Supporting detail: Electric vehicles are powered by batteries charged by electricity, so some argue that the benefits of EVs are mitigated by the pollution caused by the “dirty, coal-fired power plant” needed to create the energy (Sperling, 2018).
E. Refuting detail: However, as we move away from coal toward renewable energy like wind and solar power or nuclear energy, this negative effect is eliminated (Sperling, 2018). For example, “in France, where most electricity comes from nuclear power, the environmental benefits are enormous” (Sperling, 2018).
F. Explanation of evidence: The manufacture and powering of electric vehicles are not without some costs to the environment; however, research has shown that these costs do not outweigh the benefits of transitioning away from the much greater environmental damage caused by traditional vehicles.
V. Conclusion
A. Review central ideas presented in body and make connection to thesis: It is clear from the research that a transition to electric vehicles will significantly reduce carbon emissions and contribute positively toward the global fight against climate change. However, in order to facilitate this transition, the US government needs to increase production and consumption incentives for electric vehicles since the US is falling behind other nations in its market share of EVs, and American consumers are slow to shift from traditional vehicles because of the cost.
B. Transition to closing thoughts: With incentives, over time more American consumers will choose electric vehicles over traditional internal combustion engine vehicles each year, prompting major changes in the American auto industry and mitigating the harmful effects of carbon emissions on the environment.
C. Closing thoughts: Climate change is a serious, global challenge affecting all of humankind, and every step toward the transition to electric vehicles is a step in the right direction.
References
Li, C., Cao, Y., Zhang, M., Wang, J., Liu, J., Shi, H., & Geng, Y. (2015). Hidden benefits of electric vehicles for addressing climate change. Scientific Reports, 5, 9213. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep09213
National Research Council (U.S.). (2015). Overcoming barriers to deployment of plug-in electric vehicles. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/21725
Noori, M., & Tatari, O. (2016). Development of an agent-based model for regional market penetration projections of electric vehicles in the United States. Energy, 96, 215–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2015.12.018
Sperling, D. (2018). Electric vehicles: Approaching the tipping point. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 74(1), 11–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/00963402.2017.1413055
Zhang, X., Bai, X., & Shang, J. (2018). Is subsidized electric vehicles adoption sustainable: Consumers’ perceptions and motivation toward incentive policies, environmental benefits, and risks. Journal of Cleaner Production, 192, 7179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.04.252