Are Electric Cars More Environmentally Friendly?

Many people are led to believe that electric cars are better for the environment. Famous people like Elon Musk have made the electric car business seem glamorous. High tech cars that reduce C02 emissions sound great but are they really more environmentally friendly? Can any car truly be environmentally friendly? I have some suspicions about this and I will explain why. 

What is the Difference Between Electric Cars and Gas Cars? 

The main difference between electric cars and gas cars is where they get their energy source from. 

How Gas Cars Work 

In a simplified explanation, gas cars work by combining air and fuel together and igniting it to create heat. This explosion allows the car to move. So the energy in gas is released through a chemical reaction which makes the car work. 

How Electric Cars Work 

Electric cars work by using lithium-ion batteries. The best way to explain it is to explain how a phone works. Mobile and Smartphones use lithium-ion batteries. These batteries power the phone but they run out of power as time goes on. Due to the size of a phone, it normally takes a day before it is time to charge the phone again with a power cord. Electric cars work the same way. The internals at its most basic level is just a big battery. This battery runs down and it needs to be connected to a power cord. The battery takes electricity from the cord which powers it. Once it is charged, it can be driven. 

In simple terms, gas cars run off fuel and electric cars run off of electricity.  

The Manufacturing 

The only way to have a car is to make a car. The process to make electric and gas cars are relatively similar. Raw materials are taken and assembled through a complex process to produce a car. Surprisingly, there is one big difference between the two cars that Elon Musk, or any electric car manufacturer, does not discuss much. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, electric cars produce more carbon emissions during manufacturing. This may come at a shock, but the process to make an electric car is not the greenest. The batteries used to produce the car are made from Rare Earth Elements (REE) that can only be sourced through mining. Mining is a polluting process and it is not good for the earth. To produce this REE, acid waste and radioactive residues are created too. At least it only needs one battery right? Wrong. These batteries do not last very long but more about that later. 

Electric Car Batteries

An electric car battery is what makes the car drivable. The process to make these batteries has some debatable negative effects on the environment. The issue starts at manufacturing where lithium is extracted from the earth. Scientists claim that the production of these batteries is the most environmentally damaging out of any stage in the production cycle. The worst part of all of it is that one battery does not last the whole lifetime of an electric vehicle. About every 10 to 20 years the battery in these cars needs to be replaced. This doubles the environmental effect one car has on the environment. 

What happens to the old battery? It would be nice if the old batteries could at least be recycled but that is unfortunately not commonly the case. For lithium-ion batteries their chemical components do not make them worth salvaging. In most situations, the process to extract the recyclable parts out of the battery is not worth the time or effort. Most of these used batteries end up incinerated or in landfills. I will say, as time progresses and electric cars continue to grow in popularity, I do think that there will be an easier way to recycle these batteries. As for now, there is simply not enough research on how to properly recycle them. Another idea that I would like to see in the future is discovering a way to make these batteries last longer so that electric cars would produce less of a carbon footprint. 

Environmental Issues with Gas Cars 

Everyone knows that gas cars are not the best for the environment but how bad are they? The main issue with gas cars is the gas. Petroleum products have to be extracted from the earth which is damaging to the environment and can lead to issues like the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Once the petroleum is mixed with other chemicals like ethanol it is then used to fill up tanks at the gas station. This is where air quality suffers. Gas vehicles are one-third of all U.S. air pollution. This comes at a concern because people breathe these chemicals resulting in health issues. In the effort to reduce this, the Environmental Protection Agency set emissions standards that most people have to abide by to help reduce the pollutants being released by a gas car. 

What is Worse, Electric Cars or Gas Cars 

On one hand, electric cars have a lot of negatives for the environment just due to their car batteries alone. On the other hand, gas cars are constantly using petroleum products and emitting toxins into the environment. So, which is better out of the two evils? I will leave that to you to decide. For me personally, I don’t think the technology is there yet with electric cars to make their environmental benefits significant. Gas cars are obviously not safe for the environment but neither option is perfect.