How Environmentally Friendly Are Electric Cars? Essay Example

Globally, there has been tremendous emphasis on the need to go green which demands exploring options that have environmental friendliness (Bomford, 2013). Automobiles have been on rampage releasing tons of pollutants into the atmosphere demanding frantic efforts towards making cars greener. The purpose of this article is to compare and contrast the technologies of hybrid cars and all electric cars owing to the fact that they are drastically different in design and function. The article also wishes to evaluate the advantages and limitations of each type of vehicle and give an opinion on preference choice for future transportation.

Electric and hybrid cars are technology designed to decrease the dependence of gasoline fuel for powering car engines. Electric cars are entirely electric, meaning that they depend on electric charge for powering engines. That is to mean the distance that the car can run is limited to the amount of charge available (David, 2009). Hybrid cars use a combination of gas and electric power which offers an advantage in terms of delimiting the distance covered. Some hybrid cars have been modified to run exclusively on electric power except in total depletion of power that the car switches use gasoline power. The concept behind using electric power to run cars is not a new phenomenon, at the onset of the twentieth century, most cars were predominantly electric. The cars operated quite efficiently, and covered reasonably good ranges but the introduction of the internal combustion gasoline engine overtook electric cars in popularity.

Modern electric cars are relatively comparable to gasoline powered cars in terms of speed, and in order to facilitate their mirage charging stations are readily available along the way. Electric cars are nonpolluting, and are powered using clean energy such as wind or hydropower making them very eco friendly.

A hybrid car incorporates a conventional gasoline engine and rechargeable batteries that charge while the car is running. When the car demands less power such as driving on a flat terrain or idling, the car depends on the electricity stored in the batteries. When more power is demanded by the car the gasoline engine takes over and avails the power that is needed. Consumers who have an inclination to environmental conservation and yet feel limited by electric cars have an option of turning to hybrid cars (Bomford, 2013). Car manufacturers are incorporating hybrids in their production line to cater to people who mind about clean energy without the difficulties of managing charging and range (Boschert, 2006).

Though hybrid cars are more ecologically friendly than conventional gasoline powered cars, they still carry environmental hazards owing to the fact that they still emit pollution (Bomford, 2013). The only difference is that they have low polluting capability than gasoline powered engines. A hybrid car is a great choice for people who are not ready to meet the challenges associated to an electric car, yet want to be environmentally conscious. Electric cars, on the other hand, are absolutely non- pollutants and hardly rely on gasoline, giving them a bigger edge of choice than hybrid cars.

For a long time technology has been seeking a workable option to people improve the batteries for electric cars so as to improve on mileage and power output. Since electric cars can only travel a fraction of the mileage covered by hybrid cars or gasoline cars it has hampered the full development of electric cars. No wonder this limitation makes electric cars cheaper then hybrid cars. Therefore the development of a hybrid car is only a change in strategy due to continued failure in the improvement of efficient batteries. Hybrid cars are thus essentially an amalgamation of electric cars and gasoline engine.

Most researchers are at a consensus that shifting to electric cars would drastically reduce the entire primary energy allocated for personal transportation. However, there is no clear modality to determine the precise amount of energy that might be saved. When three modes of cars are compared that is electric vehicles, hybrid-electric vehicles, and conventional vehicles, a number of variable affects the basic assumptions. Realistically electric cars may have a favorable baseline to improve personal transportation but the performance profile is hampered by the technological challenges owing to its underdevelopment (David, 2009). Hybrid-electric cars may carry the day but may depend on the design of the hybrid power system, thus optimized hybrid cars may be as clean as battery-electric cars.

Both hybrid and electric cars are marred by wide scale technical, economic, and perceptual disadvantages. Technical issues are centered on the limitations of the storage battery. Hybrid cars experienced inherent disadvantages owing to the mass of the car resulting to higher manufacturing costs attributed to greater mechanical and electrical complexity. Manufacturers are challenged to develop new designs that will be more cost effective by coming up with an environmentally benevolent personal transportation products (Bomford, 2013).

Basing on facts on file hybrid cars are the best invention owing to their multiple function features. Moreover there are many reasons to suggest that a hybrid car is worthwhile, it is inevitably vital to understand how they work. There are myths, benefits and drawbacks associated to this new green technology. A hybrid car basically is normal, fuel car that has an electric motor and a gasoline powered motor with a special system to capture braking energy to stock up electric power in an onboard battery. One of the basic rules of science states that the more complex a system is  the more often it will break down despite the obvious safety advantages.  This question puts a straight deliberation into cog mire since the complexity of the system is the strength and weakness of two systems intended to serve the same function almost simultaneously. electric motors work at their best during idling and less gas is used at low speeds while gas motors do better at high speeds and unleashes power for a given car weight.

The primary benefit of having the gas motor is that it commensurate the used power by charging the batteries while running. Unlike electric cars which stop upon exhausting battery power, hybrid gas motors starts automatically when the battery gets down and continues to charge the battery. Viable technology comes at a price and owing to the complexity associated to a hybrid car; it is expensive thus demands larger repair bills.

Hybrid cars offer more than fuel economy, they put forward many green advantages, therefore a increase in fuel economy makes a difference in the amount of carbon  emitted over the life of the car. They are ecologically friendly especially in large cities where pollution is at its peak, making a larger difference since they generate little emissions at low speed and during inevitable traffic jams (Calef & Goble, 2007). In a word hybrid cars have all due advantages to wander in mega cities and vast highways in the globe.

References

Bomford, A., (2013). “How Environmentally Friendly Are Electric Cars?” BBC News. BBC, 04 Nov.

Boschert, S., (2006). Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars that will Recharge America. New Society Publishers.

Calef, D., & Goble, R. (2007). The allure of technology: How France and California promoted electric and hybrid vehicles to reduce urban air pollution. Policy Science, 40: 1-34.

David B. Sandalow, ed. (2009). Plug-In Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington? (1st. ed.). The Brookings Institution.