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Running Head: ELECTRICAL CARS AND GLOBAL POLLUTION 1

Electric Cars and Global pollution

Sharonda Robinson

Columbia Southern University

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Electric Cars and Global pollution

Electric vehicles are praised as an environmentally friendly alternative to gas-powered

cars, yet constructing electric vehicles creates more greenhouse gas emissions than producing a

gas-powered car. Electric vehicle batteries are bigger than those used by gas-powered vehicles.

In addition, gas-powered vehicles used lead-acid batteries, while electric vehicles use lithium-ion

batteries. Lithium-ion batteries require more energy to produce, and they are harder to recycle.

On the other side, people who advocate for electric vehicles believe that vehicles help tackle

climate change since greenhouse gas is not emitted directly. Recent research in Germany at the

think-tank Institute shows that electric cars will hardly help decrease Carbon dioxide emissions

in Germany in the future. They suggest that battery electricity's carbon dioxide emission is

slightly higher than the gas-powered vehicle or diesel engines. Other current researches on

electric vehicles in Germany have gotten to a different conclusion. One researcher found that

electric vehicles' emission has emission up to 43% lesser than the fuel engine. Another study

shows that electric vehicles have lesser lifetime climate effects than those with diesel engines.

The first inventor to create electric vehicles was Hungary. However, it was not until the second

half of the nineteenth century that English, as well as French inventors, constructed some of the

first practical electric vehicles (Zeng, et al., 2019).

Electric vehicles are more appealing in the world where decreasing pollution, as well as

carbon emission, is a growing concern for most of the people. One of the main advantages of

electric vehicles is their impact on improving air quality in cities and towns. With no carbon

dioxide emission when driving electric vehicles can give people a cleaner street. According to

the Mayor of London, road transportation accounts for about half of the town’s air pollution. It is

no surprise that the UK administration wants to increase the number of electric vehicles on the

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road. The UK leaders have set a goal for the auction of diesel and petrol vehicles to be expelled

in the next 20 years (Wang, et al., 2020). Moreover, a decrease in pollution can improve public

health and a decrease in ecological damage. Since electric vehicles' popularity is increasing,

there are so many queries concerning its impact on the environment.

Literature Review

In order to better understand the impact of electric vehicles on the environment, the

history of electric vehicles should be taken into consideration. This review will examine the

position of the two sides of the controversy, beginning with the pro side, which is in favor of

electric vehicles. This review will also include the position against the use of the electric

vehicle.

A Brief look at electronic vehicles

Electric vehicles have been around longer than General Motor EV1 of the late 1990s and

Tesla Motor. The first inventor to create electric vehicles was Hungary. However, it was not until

the second half of the nineteenth century that English, as well as French inventors, constructed

some of the first practical electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are easy to drive and do not emit

unpleasant pollutants like other diesel vehicles. Electric vehicles became more famous,

especially to women in the urban area. As more individuals increased access to electricity in the

1910s. It became less difficult to charge electric vehicles, and this added to its fame. The

popularity caught the eye of many inventors, and Porsche came up with the world’s first hybrid

car that was power-driven by both gas engines and electricity.

On the other hand, Thomas believed that electric vehicles were superior technology;

therefore, he worked on building a better electric vehicle battery. Currently, electric vehicles

account for a third of the cars on the road in the United States. In the next text year, the sale of

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electric vehicles is projected to increase. In 1973, there was a shortage of oil, and most

automakers began to explore some of the alternative fuel vehicles, such as an electric vehicle.

However, the electric vehicles could only go for 64 kilometers on a single charge. This made

them far from desirable. In 2006, Tesla announced that it was going to be producing luxury

electric vehicles that would go more than 320 kilometers on a single charge. A new battery

technology came into the market, improving the plug-in-electric car range and decreasing the

battery cost by half over the span of four years. This decreased the cost of electric cars, overall

making it more inexpensive for customers.

The argument for electric vehicle reducing pollution

Producing electricity that fuels electric cars can generate pollution. However, those

emission levels are lower than the pollution generated by diesel vehicles. Research shows that it

could be lower as the electric power sector cleans up over the next ten years. Direct emissions

are produced through vaporization from the petroleum system, tailpipe, and during the powering

procedure. Direct emissions such as smog-forming pollutants like nitrogen oxide and other

pollutants that are harmful to greenhouse gases and health. All-electric cars emit zero direct

emission, which aids in increasing air quality. Diesel vehicles that have a gasoline engine

produce evaporative emission from the fuel system and tailpipe emission when operating on

gasoline (Liao, et al., 2017)

Life cycle emission involves all emissions related to vehicle production, distribution,

processing, and use. All cars produce substantial life cycle emissions. However, electric cars

produce less life cycle emission as compared to diesel cars because most productions are lower

for electric production than burning diesel and gasoline. The precise quantity of emission relies

on the electricity mixture, which differs from one region to another (Eftekhari, 2019).

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The argument of the electric vehicle increasing pollution

The process of making a vehicle begins with the raw materials being refined, extracted,

and transported to the manufacturing company. Several parts will be put together to produce the

car itself. The procedure is very much the same in both electric and diesel vehicles. According to

the union of concerned scientists, at the end of the manufacturing procedure, electric vehicles are

the ones that generate more carbon emission because electric cars keep energy in the large

batteries. Electric vehicle batteries are made from a rare earth element like nickel, lithium, and

graphite that are found beneath the earth's surface. According to the Chinese Society of Rare

Earth, in order to produce one ton of rare earth elements, 75 tons of acid waste and one tone of

radioactive residues are made.

Pollution and climate change is an existing threat for most life on the planet. The main

difference between the electric vehicle and diesel vehicles is the process of transforming the

potential energy into kinetic energy. Those in favor of electric vehicles reducing pollution state

that all-electric vehicles produce zero direct emission, improving the air quality. Diesel vehicles

with a gasoline engine produce evaporative emission from the fuel system and tailpipe emission

when operating on gasoline. Electric cars produce less life cycle emission as compared to diesel

vehicles because most emissions are lower for electric production than burning diesel and

gasoline. Those in favor of electric vehicles increasing pollution states that at the end of the

manufacturing procedure, electric vehicles are the ones that generate more carbon emission

because electric cars keep energy in the large batteries. Electric vehicle batteries are made from a

rare earth element like nickel, lithium, and graphite that are found beneath the earth's surface. As

the interest and popularity of electric vehicles increase, it is essential to analyze its impact on the

environment (Harper, et al., 2019).

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References

Eftekhari, A. (2019). Lithium batteries for electric vehicles: from economy to research strategy.

Harper, G., Sommerville, R., Kendrick, E., Driscoll, L., Slater, P., Stolkin, R., ... & Abbott, A.

(2019). Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles. Nature, 575(7781), 75-86.

Liao, F., Molin, E., & van Wee, B. (2017). Consumer preferences for electric vehicles: a

literature review. Transport Reviews, 37(3), 252-275.

Wang, T., Luo, H., Zeng, X., Yu, Z., Liu, A., & Sangaiah, A. K. (2020). Mobility based trust

evaluation for heterogeneous electric vehicles network in smart cities. IEEE Transactions

on Intelligent Transportation Systems.

Zeng, X., Li, M., Abd El‐Hady, D., Alshitari, W., Al‐Bogami, A. S., Lu, J., & Amine, K. (2019).

Commercialization of lithium battery technologies for electric vehicles. Advanced Energy

Materials, 9(27), 1900161.