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- By Caroline McNally
Many consumers question the positive environmental impacts that electric cars have promised. This is due to concerns over their lithium batteries and power usage contributing to more fossil fuels in the air. In this blog, we will put consumer’s minds to ease and discuss the environmental benefits of electric cars in comparison to their internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle counterparts.
Lithium mined batteries have been the largest topic of debate so far in whether the negative and expensive mining effects outweigh the benefits of electric cars. While mining does burn fossil fuels, it is only done once while ICE vehicles emit fossil fuels every time they are powered on or are in operation. Due to this, the lifespan of an ICE vehicle is continually spent producing fossil fuels, whereas an electric car’s lifespan is spent producing nearly zero fossil fuels.
When evaluating the lifespan of both types of vehicles, the processes to re-fuel or re-charge the vehicles are important. Re-fueling or re-charging a car is crucial for it to operate. Therefore, the frequency at which it is done massively contributes to how many emissions are produced. One of the main ingredients in gas, which is used to fuel ICE vehicles, is petroleum; and when burned, it is one of the largest contributors to fossil fuels. When recharging electric cars, electricity is used, and it is either produced through coal, hydropower, nuclear power, wind, or natural gas. Although some of the methods to produce electricity create fossil fuels, it is created in the production of all electricity. Due to this, electric cars produce 1/4 of the amount of fossil fuels than their ICE vehicle counterparts throughout their lifespan.
Scientists and Environmentalists in their studies have also pointed out the futuristic impacts of electric cars. Electric Cars are still very new to the automobile world, and because of that they still have room to grow through the many advancements still yet to be made to them. Electric Car batteries are recently being modified and studied to utilize other metals such as nickel and cobalt to offput the effects of mining for lithium batteries. These advancements give scientists and environmentalists hope for a cleaner energy future through the adoption of electric cars.
Maverick Electric Vehicle Services is excited to see the advancements coming to electric cars and proud to contribute to the adoption of electric cars through building resilient electric vehicle charging infrastructure. If you want to electrify your company, contact us today for a quote so we can walk you through your electric vehicle charging infrastructure journey!
