How do electric cars help the environment?

Question

i need notes on how electric cars help the environment. Can you give me some notes or some websites i can check out?

Answer 1

Electric cars don't do much for the environment.  You still have to charge up the battery, and that comes from the electric company which burns coal or gas and that (allegedly) contributes to something the scare merchants have labeled "global warming."  

Then when the car or mattress sized battery fails, it goes to the junkyard or landfill.

Answer 2

Electric cars use energy much more efficiently than combustion engines; however, that energy must come from some source, typically fossil fuels.  With the current electric grid, battery powered cars are generally considered to give 3 to 4 times the "mpg" of similar gasoline cars (and hence 3 to 4 times less pollution).  Of course, a direct comparison is difficult, because they ultimately have different fuel types.

Wikipedia used to have a reasonable bit on the "mileage" of electric cars, but either it has been removed, or I just can't find it.

Of course, if you have your own wind or solar powered recharger, then it basically costs nothing to run your electric car.  After a 70 mile commute, you could recharge a compact electric car in about 9 hours from a 2400 W source.  This means you could use 160 sq ft of photovoltaic cells, or a small wind turbine (connected overnight).

The total to recharge a car from the 70 mile commute would be about 21 kilowatt hours.  At 12 cents per kW hr, this would be about $2.60 from the grid.  Compared to $8 in gasoline (35 mpg).

Oh, and ranges are improving.  Modern Li-Ion cars could get 3 such commutes before needing a recharge.  The batteries are recycled (not junked), and can last for almost a decade, although I find that a little hard to swallow.

Answer 3

i have an electric car, while it doe help the environment, it is very impractical, as a matter of fact i am selling it, because it is more trouble than its worth, great idea absolutely, practical,, not a chance

Answer 4

I can't stay quiet any longer about the politics of this land.  I have been contacting my senators and congressman about a couple of issues, and they were very glad to hear from me.  Here are the 2 issues:



1.  The senate is voting soon on the Supplemental Spending Bill for the Iraq War, and Diane Feinstein put in an amendment to grant amnesty to 1 million ILLEGAL immigrants because the produce is not getting picked in time.  Our economy is in so much trouble, and there are lots of LEGAL citizens that need the money and would be willing to work in agriculture.  There are plenty of youth that need good, hard-working jobs to earn them the money they need for college, cars, etc.  Feinstein's amendment is very inappropriate.  Once you start the amnesty policy, there will be no end.  I just saw a presentation on how excessive immigration will undo our country in many ways...too far to mention.



2.  Our country has lots of oil reserves in many states and out in the surrounding oceans.  We have the technology to drill for it in a responsible way to conserve the environment.  The Dakotas, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah have oil shale that can be successfully developed for oil, and the Energy Policy of 2005 directed the BLM to lease these lands to those willing to develop the shale oil.  Now a moratorium was imposed as part of the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2008 to NOT allow the BLM to lease land for shale oil development.



It is my opinion that we should be calling our representatives and letting them know we will not vote for them if they don't allow us to glean our own oil resources in our own land and help our own people and our economy.  To go begging to Saudi Arabia for more oil is humiliating and unnecessary.  This is the biggest transfer of wealth in the history of the world to take our money by the billions and give it to countries that are not friendly to us and then prohibit our own people from providing for themselves.



I have sent this out to many in different states.  If we each do our part, and spread the word, something can be done about this situation.  We the people are still in charge if we will take the responsibility.  I had a very good experience calling my representatives, both Republican and Democrat.  Their phone numbers were in the phone directory.  



Thanks for reading, and I hope you will take action.

Answer 5

One main reason is its not producing smoke(pollution free). we have to charge the battery to drive the motor that is placed inside the car. Another one thing is while breaking the car the motor inside the car act as generator and it charges the battery so energy is saved here. Electric car helps the environment only when the power that is used to charge the battery is obtained from Renewable energy(solar, wind, hydro etc).

Answer 6

usefulness- electric cars help reducing global warming as     they dont give out any harmfull gases because  it is a machine and machienes do'nt give out any gases. you need a battery to make it work. Electric cars help not giving out carbon dioxide which at night when normally the suns raise leave the atmosphere the carbon dioxide traps it within the atmophere  not lrting it leave.as the carbon dioxide acts as an reflection on the suns raise. we can prevent this from useing electric cars.

harmful- well it is not quiet harmful. but we keep on have to changing the battery once it gets over.

Answer 7

By not burning gas which produces fluorocarbons which damage the ozone layer, which protects the inhabitants of the planet from harmful cosmic radiation.

Answer 8

It does'nt give off exhaust.