Can electric cars save the environment?

@jojorv (201)
Philippines
July 26, 2009 7:20am CST
electric cars are being developed here and there. car manufacturers believe this is their way of saving the environment. do you agree with this? its true that using electric cars will lessen smoke emission and will help lower consumption of oil. but electric cars will increase consumption of electricity. some power plant uses oil in generating power. do you think we are just transferring the pollution from the oil powered cars to the oil consuming power plants? what do you think?
1 person likes this
3 responses
@dolphin2406 (1224)
• Poland
26 Jul 09
Hi, it's true that electric cars reduce emissions in the air but as you said they have to be charged electrically. Maybe when comparing the energy consumption to charge the battery with the emissions from fuel it is much more viable otherwise I don't think they would be producing them and also making so much promotion for these cars. At work we had a small electric car and I used it some time, but it goes very slow and its charge did not last so much so I couldn't go a long way otherwise it may have stopped without charge. Maybe it was the make of that specific cars since it was bought some 3 years ago so I guess there are much more advanced cars than that. Have a nice day!
• Poland
26 Jul 09
Then there are also hybrid cars that use both fuel and a battery charged electrically. I think i would prefer these. i have just searched for it and the environmental issues are as follows: The hybrid vehicle typically achieves greater fuel economy and lower emissions than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), resulting in fewer emissions being generated. These savings are primarily achieved by three elements of a typical hybrid design: relying on both the engine and the electric motors for peak power needs resulting in a smaller engine sized more for average usage rather than peak power usage. having significant battery storage capacity to store and reuse recaptured energy, especially in stop-and-go traffic. recapturing significant amounts of energy normally wasted during braking etc. (regenerative braking) This is a mechanism that reduces vehicle speed by converting some of its kinetic energy into another useful form of energy, dependent upon the power rating of the motor/generator; other techniques that are not necessarily 'hybrid' features, but that are frequently found fuel saving measures on hybrid vehicles include: shutting down the engine during traffic stops or while coasting or other idle periods; improving aerodynamics ; (part of the reason that SUVs get such bad fuel economy is the drag on the car. A box shaped car or truck has to exert more force to move through the air causing more stress on the engine making it work harder). Improving the shape and aerodynamics of a car is a good way to help better the fuel economy and also improve handling at the same time. using low rolling resistance tires ; (tires were often made to give a quiet, smooth ride, high grip etc. but efficiency was a lower priority. Tires cause mechanical drag, once again making the engine work harder, consuming more fuel. Hybrid cars may use special tires that are more inflated than regular tires and stiffer or by choice of carcase structure and rubber compound have lower rolling resistance while retaining acceptable grip, and so improving fuel economy whatever the power source. These features make a hybrid vehicle particularly efficient for city traffic where there are frequent stops, coasting and idling periods. In addition noise emissions are reduced, particularly at idling and low operating speeds,[35] in comparison to conventional engine vehicles. For continuous high speed highway use these features are much less useful in reducing emissions.
• India
5 Jul 10
Hello i can't say if they can save environment or not, but because there is no emission of any gas as exhaust, these have poisonous gases in them.. it will not pollute the air, that part i am sure... Thanks for sharing. Welcome always. Cheers. Professor
@wyvern501 (166)
• Philippines
26 Jul 09
it depends on where the cars electricity came from... there are so many different sources of electricity or energy these days... some of the most commonly know sources are Sunlight, water, geothermal and wind.... so you cant really say we are just increasing the pollution....