Why Drive an EV?
Electric vehicles represent the future of smart, economical energy conservation. They’re the latest trend in cars and have become more and more popular. Going electric can be an improvement in your lifestyle that’s Earth-friendly, economical and fun!
Save Money
Electric vehicles are subsidized by the federal government, California and some local agencies. You can take up to a $7,500 tax credit on your federal income taxes for buying electric vehicles. And the State of California will reimburse you up to $5,000 for leasing or purchasing a pure electric; $1500 for a plug-in hybrid. The cost per mile for electricity is typically 1/3 that of gasoline. As of June 2022, the national average for a gallon of gasoline is $4.9 to $5.2 compared to the equivalent electric gallon of about $0.80. In the future, gas prices may increase, making it even cheaper to go electric.
Less Hassle
If you drive an electric car, you won’t have to make trips to the gas station ever again. No more gas-soiled hands! No more breathing toxic, benzene-laden gasoline fumes! Your home is your new “gas station,” so you never have to leave the house to “fuel” your car. There are also many charging stations available which allow you to charge your vehicle for free. The electric charging system infra-structure is rapidly expanding, which means it will become more convenient for you to charge your vehicle. California has more charging stations than any other state and is adding thousands of new ones every year.
Less Maintenance
Electric Vehicles require little mechanical upkeep. Many of them don’t need to be serviced until they’ve reached 10,000 or 15,000 miles. There are no conventional “tune-ups” for EVs. Check-ups include rotating the tires, replacing windshield wipers, checking coolants and brake fluids and diagnostically examining the batteries. Scheduled maintenance for EVs is less expensive because there’s not that much for the technicians to do. There are 10 times less moving parts in an EV than a gasoline-powered car. EVs have no transmission, spark plugs, valves, fuel tank, tailpipe, distributor, starter, clutch, muffler, or catalytic converter. In addition, an EV’s regenerative brakes help maintain its brake pads for a longer time.
Quieter and Fun to Drive
Electric motors are able to provide instant torque at 0 rpm, allowing you to have fast acceleration. EV motors produce significantly lower noise pollution for a near-silent drive, making the ride you take a much more pleasant experience. EV cabins are much quieter than fossil fuel car cabins. Because auto manufacturers consider EVs their most technologically-advanced products, significant attention is given to styling, cabin design and drivability for many brands, producing a far more enjoyable journey. Saying they’re fun to drive is an understatement.
Improving air quality
CO2 is produced during the manufacturing process of most electric vehicles. But once an EV is operational, it emits no CO2. Producing the electricity used to charge an EV can generate global warming emissions. Coal-fired plants create nearly 2x the amount of warming emissions emitted by natural gas-fired plants, however renewable sources like wind and solar power produce no emissions at all. California’s Carbon Law AB 32 – one of the most aggressive in the country – requires that the state’s greenhouse gas emissions return to 1990 levels by 2020. It has mandated in-state plant performance standards that will make it illegal for California utilities to get coal power from out-of-state plants after 2027. California is a hotbed for new solar and wind energy installations and has the most aggressive clean tech agenda in the country. It has passed a law that requires electricity providers to get 33% of their power from renewable sources by 2020. Just as significantly, California’s ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) Mandate requires automakers from the year 2025 forward to make 15.4% of their vehicles ZEVs.
The Sierra Club says: “According to a range of studies doing a ‘well to wheels’ analysis, an electric car leads to significantly less carbon dioxide pollution from electricity than the CO2 pollution from the oil of a conventional car with an internal combustion engine. In some areas, like many on the West Coast that rely largely on wind or hydro power, the emissions are significantly lower for EVs. And that's today. As we retire more coal plants and bring cleaner sources of power online, the emissions from electric vehicle charging drop even further. Additionally, in some areas, night-time charging will increase the opportunity to take advantage of wind power – another way to reduce emissions.”
The Union of Concerned Scientist’s report, State of Charge: Electric Vehicles' Global Warming Emissions and Fuel-Cost Savings Across the United States, compares the global warming emissions from EVs with those from gasoline-powered vehicles and finds that:
- Nationwide, EVs charged from the electricity grid produce lower global warming emissions than the average compact gasoline-powered vehicle (with a fuel economy of 27 miles per gallon)—even when the electricity is produced primarily from coal in regions with the “dirtiest” electricity grids.
- In regions with the “cleanest” electricity grids, EVs produce lower global warming emissions than even the most fuel-efficient hybrids.
- EVs charged entirely from renewable sources like wind and solar power produce virtually no global warming emissions.
- Nearly half of Americans (45%) live in the “best” regions where EVs produce lower global warming emissions than even the most fuel-efficient gasoline hybrids on the market today (greater than 50 mpg).Another third (38%) live in “better” areas where EVs produce emissions comparable to the best gasoline hybrid vehicles (41 – 50 mpg).
Bottom line: charging an EV produces far fewer global warming pollutants than driving a gasoline car. In some of the country’s cleanest regions (parts of California, New York, and the Pacific Northwest), driving an EV is equivalent to getting 85 miles per gallon. By the end of their lives, gas-powered cars have spewed out almost twice as much global warming pollution as an equivalent electric car. It’s not a theory, it’s a fact: you can feel confident knowing that driving an EV is contributing to a smaller CO2 footprint. The emergence of EVs has already resulted in far less climate pollution than their ICE counterparts. As EV production methods are optimized and disposal/recycling of batteries becomes more efficient, environmental benefits will magnify further. As electricity becomes cleaner, the difference between EVs and fossil-fuel cars will dramatically increase. As batteries become cheaper to produce, EVs will be less expensive to manufacture.
Researchers at Belgium’s VUB University have calculated the total lifecycle emissions of an electric car, including its manufacture, battery manufacture, and all of its energy consumption, to be 50% less than the emissions of diesel cars. Their report concludes that electric cars emit significantly less greenhouse gases over their lifetimes than diesel engines even when they are powered by the most carbon intensive energy. In Poland, which uses high volumes of coal, electric vehicles produced a quarter less emissions than diesels when put through a full lifecycle modelling study by Belgium’s VUB University. CO2 reductions on Europe’s cleanest grid in Sweden were a remarkable 85%, falling to around one half for countries such as the UK. “On average, EVs will emit half the CO2 emissions of a diesel car by 2030, including the manufacturing emissions,” – Yoann Le Petit, a spokesman for the T&E think tank, which commissioned the VUB University study.
The world is heading towards a future dominated by electric vehicles. Copenhagen, the most bike-friendly city in the world, is working on an aggressive timeline. It plans to ban all diesel-powered cars starting in 2019. The mayors of Los Angeles, Mexico City, Seattle, Barcelona, Vancouver, Milan, Quito, Cape Town, and Auckland have pledged to ban gas and diesel cars from large parts of their cities by 2030.
The list of countries saying they plan to limit the sale and/or abolish ICE cars in the future is extensive, including the state of California, which plans to ban sales of new gas cars by 2035. Norway will only sell electric and hybrid vehicles starting in 2025. By 2025, the Netherlands will only sell EVs. India has indicated that by 2025, it will allow only EVs and hybrid vehicles to be sold. The UK says it will ban petrol and diesel cars by 2040. France will ban the sale of gas and diesel cars by 2040, with the aim of being carbon neutral by 2050. Germany’s Bundesrat passed a resolution calling for a total ban on internal combustion engines by 2030. Austria, China, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Portugal, Korea and Spain have all set official targets for electric car sales. China, the world’s biggest vehicle market, is considering a ban on the production and sale of fossil fuel cars by 2040, copying the plans of France and the UK. The United States doesn't have a federal policy, but at least eight states have set out goals (California’s ambitious plan to encourage EV sales is at warp speed).
By 2050, all cars on the road will need to have zero emissions. Car manufacturers and tech companies investing billions on EV and battery development in the next few years include: Uber, Apple, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Audi, Faraday Future, Volkswagen, BYD, Porsche, Volvo, Google, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Renault, BMW and Karma. Volkswagen plans to spend 70 billion euros ($81 billion) to develop electric versions of all its models by 2030. GM plans 20 all-electric models by 2023. Ford will have 13 new EV models by 2020. Volvo AB will begin phasing out cars that run just on fossil fuels in 2019 and transition to producing only electrics and hybrids. Car companies have gotten the message that electric vehicles are the future.
Research by Bloomberg New Energy Finance suggests that further large reductions in battery prices lie ahead, and that during the 2020s EVs will become cheaper to purchase or lease than gasoline or diesel cars in most countries. BNEF forecasts indicate that EV sales will hit 41 million by 2040, representing 35% of new light duty vehicle sales. Says BNEF: “Electric cars will outsell fossil-fuel powered vehicles within two decades as battery prices plunge, turning the global auto industry upside down and signaling economic turmoil for oil-exporting countries.”
Michael Liebreich, Founder of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, says: "By 2020, there will be over 120 different models of EVs across the spectrum. They will make the internal combustion equivalent look old fashioned.”
The EV Evolution / Revolution is in full swing!
September 2014 • Union of Concerned Scientists • State of Change • Electric cars produce lower global warming emissions than the average compact gasoline-powered vehicle • http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/emissions-and-charging-costs-electric-cars#.WWkb84X93mE
June 2012 • Union of Concerned Scientists • State of Change • http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/clean_vehicles/electric-car-global-warming-emissions-report.pdf
January 2016 • MOBI Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel • State of Change • Environmental Analysis of petrol, Diesel and Electric Passenger Cars in a Belgian Urban Setting • https://wpstatic.idium.no/elbil.no/2017/01/Forskningsrapport_2016.pdf
February 2016 • Bloomberg New Energy Finance • Electric Vehicles to be 40% of new car sales by 2040 • https://about.bnef.com/blog/electric-vehicles-to-be-35-of-global-new-car-sales-by-2040/
July 2017 • Jess Shankleman, Bloomberg New Energy Finance • The Electric Car Revolution Is Accelerating • https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-06/the-electric-car-revolution-is-accelerating
April 2017 •Tom Randall, Bloomberg New Energy Finance • The Electric Car Is So Real Even Oil Companies Say It’s Coming • https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-25/electric-car-boom-seen-triggering-peak-oil-demand-in-2030s
