Persuasive Essay

How are electric cars not as green as many would think?

Jackson Musgrove

 

Think of a polar bear, beautiful and clean in their presence. Fuzzy and nice looking almost as if you could walk up and give it a hug. Only to realize that they are not what you think, that they are the predators and the top of the food chain. Something you do not want to cross. The same concept of unforeseen aspects are commonly seen in the automobile progression. 

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Electric cars - known for their sleek designs, curbed noise, and zero emissions, but is this statement true? Many believe that electric cars give off no emissions and are the perfect vehicle for the environment; however, they are not as green as one would think. Most of the general population sees electric cars as how they are marketed: the ideal vehicle for controlling the world's climate and reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Part of that statement is valid, as electric cars are better than gas-powered cars in some respects, but they could be better. They are not as green as many people believe them to be. Owing to the multiple stages of development, the need for unique materials, and the necessity of power, electric cars' life still produces more emissions than one might expect.

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Aspects such as the limited to no tailpipe emissions from the vehicle itself are some of the reasons why many environmentalists are happy with the rise of electric cars. Tailpipe emissions are most of the time the most upfront thing someone finds out when discussing an electric car, and "All-electric vehicles don't have tailpipe emissions, while gas-powered vehicles have the largest amount" with 74% of all the total emissions from a gas-powered cars life cycle coming from the tailpipe ("How Much Emissions Do Electric Cars Produce?"). Many people tend to disregard the emissions produced by the factory during the creation of the car and batteries because of the fact that combustion engines create so much CO2 from the tailpipe, it balances out the more minor emissions created by building these combustion engine vehicles. However, this could also be reversed as the electric car produces more emissions from the creation but does not release any while driving. Many believe that the regular car passes the electric vehicle in emissions during the driving stage.

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Additionally, because of the simple yet unique designs, electric car manufacturers tend to pull every bit of power from the car. For example, "Energy waste is reduced with the use of regenerative braking in thermoelectric generations" (Nanaki 15). Thus also reducing the charge time, a significant worry for many. Regenerative braking, the ability for the car to formulate energy by using the heat the brakes generate, is just one of the many things that make electric cars so much different from all other brands of cars and why so many people consider them to be green. There are many things to like about these vehicles, some of which tend to outshine the cons. But just because of these points, the car still is not as green as one would think.

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The resources used within the electric car's battery are one of the significant downsides to the production and the greenness of the electric vehicle. Issues with the lithium-ion batteries used in today's batteries include the limited amount of the metals necessary for the creation of the battery and the pollution from mining for these special metals. The process by which the metals are extracted from the earth is labor-intensive and detrimental to the environment. "Typically, cobalt, nickel, and lithium are metals in Lithium-ion batteries. The demand for them is also increasing fast with the increasing number of electric vehicles, leading to a possible risk for ‘bottle-neck’ effects and supply availability in a short-term perspective" (Dahllöf et al. 9). This means that because of the spike in interest in these electric vehicles, the necessity for these batteries is rapidly rising, causing the already limited amount of these metals to decrease further. 

The extraction of these metals also does not come easy because "the extraction of cobalt and nickel from ore causes relatively high environmental damage costs" and can contaminate the air and soil around it (Dahllöf et al. 9). This causes higher pollution rates which shows that the pollution does not only come from the car's tailpipes, but also from the processes necessary for the car to begin running. 

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The last issue that comes with the batteries in electric vehicles is the materials used in the lithium-ion battery are not yet able to be recycled. They have "a very specific mix of chemical components and little quantities of lithium, which doesn't make them an appealing market opportunity" ("Are Electric Cars Really Eco-Friendly?"). This causes the life expectancy of a single battery to drop and expands its effect on the environment. When a battery is unable to be used, it must be replaced, causing the necessity for more batteries to rise. This does not mean, however, that electric cars are by any means worse than gas-powered cars. Just showing that by no way, shape, or form are electric cars perfectly green.

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Not only are the materials used to make up the battery of an electric vehicle detrimental to the environment, but the process by which the battery is made is also destructive. They are made in factories called gigafactories and are powered mainly by fossil fuels, the leading factor of CO2 pollution in the atmosphere. However, this depends on where the factory is located and what kind of energy that region uses. The issue is that 93 gigafactories make lithium-ion batteries in China, which heavily rely on fossil fuels. One study found that “Producing electric vehicles leads to significantly more emissions than producing petrol cars. Depending on the country of production, that’s between 30% to 40% extra in production emissions, mostly from the artillery production.” The Chinese factories tend to get most of their energy from the power grids fueled by fossil fuels due to a trend that happened nearly ten years ago (Choudhury). Along with the makeup of the car letting off plenty of emissions, there is another source that could let off just as much, this being the energy source.

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In the United States and all around the world, the energy used for almost everything in our daily lives comes from a power grid. And in most instances, this power grid is fueled by non-renewable resources that release immense amounts of emissions into the atmosphere. Thus, electric cars are being powered with energy from burning fossil fuels, it is still releasing CO2 in the atmosphere, not from the tailpipe but from some distant power plant" ("Are Electric Cars Eco-Friendly?"). The necessity for new renewable energy in the world's power grid is what becomes the issue with these seemingly green vehicles. Just because solid fossil fuels are not powering the car, the power that the car relies on from all of the charging stations is the same power plants that create the vehicles and tend to let off tons of CO2, comparable to the tailpipe emissions of your typical combustion engine. 

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The change from power plants running off fossil fuels to the power grid running off of energy such as wind or water could be the change that needs to happen to call these vehicles green. However, there are ways this can be offset, "depending on the state, all-electric vehicles can rely on low-emission renewable sources of electricity, or high-emission fossil fuel sources" ("How Much Emissions Do Electric Cars Produce?"). This could be the case in some circumstances, which use different energy sources than most of the world. In areas that use things such as wind and water, the electric car's carbon footprint is reduced dramatically, as every step other than the production of the battery releases a reduced amount of CO2. The issue is that "In 2020, power plants that burned coal, natural gas, and petroleum fuels were the source of about 62% of total U.S. electricity generation, but they accounted for 99% of U.S. electricity-related CO2 emissions" ("Frequently Asked Questions"). Unless the power plants change their ways of power production, most electric cars will continue to run on fossil fuels.

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These quick and quiet vehicles hold the ability to compete with the forever-standing number one in the car industry now, but at what costs? The number of things disregarded from electric cars that boost their appeal to consumers seems to allow for competition. The emissions let off in the multiple stages of creation are massively overlooked by many and advertised by none of the electric vehicle manufacturers. These facts hidden from the consumers range from the extraction of precious metals to the production of the battery in various Chinese gigafactories. Every step of the way, emissions are being produced one way or another. Because of the stages in developing the battery and the power needed to keep the car going, electric vehicles are not as green as one would think. The emissions left off in the multiple stages of an electric vehicle's life match the amount saved due to no tailpipe emissions, arguably making them no better than their counterparts. The electric car has the potential to transform the way we see transportation today, but because of the emissions created during extraction, battery production, and energy production, they have not quite lived up to what they claim to be.

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Bibliography

 

"Are Electric Cars Really Eco-Friendly? Maybe Not As Such Much As You Think." Youmatter, 2018. Accessed 19 Sep. 2022.

 

Choudhury, Saheli Roy. “Are Electric Cars 'Green'? the Answer Is Yes, but It's Complicated.” CNBC, CNBC, 26 July 2021. Accessed 1 Nov. 2022.

 

Dahllöf, Lisbeth, Mia Romare, and Alexandra Wu. Mapping of lithium-ion batteries for vehicles: A study of their fate in the Nordic countries. Nordic Council of Ministers, 2019. Google Books.

 

"Frequently Asked Questions (Faqs) - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)". Eia.Gov, 2022. Accessed 2 Nov 2022.

 

"How Much Emissions Do Electric Cars Produce?". Usafacts, 2022. Accessed 19 Sep. 2022.

 

Nanaki, Evanthia. Electric Vehicles for Smart Cities: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities. Elsevier Science, 2020. Google Books.