Electric cars may not be as green as you might think. The YouTube video tries to debunk this myth. It tries to let consumers know that there is lots of room to do more work before they really make a large contribution to the environment. Check out the video after you finish reading this post. Make up your own mind regarding whether it is the right thing to do. Are Electric Cars Really Green?
Are Electric Cars Really Green?
Based on the analysis that is portrayed in the video referred to above, all-electric cars are not as great at reducing emissions as everyone thinks. Yes, when you operate the car there are no emissions. But, the cost in terms of the environmental impact of producing the batteries can be high. Also producing the electrical power to charge them is almost the same as a traditional gas-powered car. Burning coal, oil, and natural gas to produce electricity cause a great deal of pollution. Wind energy and solar panels are better but not as much as you might think based on the analysis.
The writer notes that the analysis did not take into account such issues as the impact of nuclear power, battery efficiency improvement, car breaking regeneration, improvements in electric cars over the next 10 years, and other alternate power sources for electricity. Also, who funded the research, and are there any biases built into this analysis?
The bottom line is that the electric car business is still in its infancy and will have many new developments over the next 10 years and will get even better than it is today. So yes, it does not save us in terms of pollution today, but will it with improvements over the next 10 years. Time will tell.