What is Best? Electric cars vs Gas cars Pros and Cons.

 In this blog we're going to talk about our best to compare the environmental impact of electric vehicles versus gas powered ones. 

                                                                  

First let's take a look at some ways electric cars are bad for the environment. The biggest argument against electric vehicles is that battery production for an EV is much more detrimental to the environment, than the production of internal combustion vehicles. So, is that true? yes! The initial environmental footprint from current electric vehicle production is greater than production of gas car. The large batteries EVS are made with lithium. And the mining process of lithium produces lots of greenhouse gasses. You know greenhouse gases are responsible for global warming. It's a problem that's only going to grow Unless the manufacturing process becomes more efficient. Some estimates predict that by the year 2030 there will be more than 125 million EVS on the road and those vehicles are going to need batteries. More batteries mean more lithium. More lithium means more mining and then produce more greenhouse gases. 

                                                                   

Needless to say, lithium is in high demand Isn't high demand, and it all has to come from somewhere. It takes on average, about eight to 10 metric tons of CO2 to produce an electric vehicle.  Obviously, the bigger the battery, the more CO2 it takes to produce it. Some smaller batteries in EVS may take as few as two metric tons to produce, but larger EVs with long range batteries could be responsible for up to 17 metric tons of CO2 emissions. The average production for a gas car vehicle produces around seven metric tons of CO2. So, why does, EV production lead to a bigger environmental footprint? More than half of the world's lithium supply comes from the quote lithium triangle, an area between Chile, Bolivia and Argentina in the arid salt plants of the Atacama Desert, high up in the Andes mountains. Workers drill through the crust of the salt to get to the mineral rich brine below the surface. This process leeches' massive amounts of groundwater from the surrounding area, resulting in a decreased water supply and less accessible water for local agriculture and a region of Chile called Salarde Atacama mining companies have used 65% of the region's water. It takes 750 tons of brine to produce just one ton of lithium. The lithium is just 1 of the components of a battery. It's actually a smaller percentage than you might think too. At around 6% a growing concern surrounds the sourcing of another element used in batteries is Cobalt. But the issue is more of an ethical dilemma, as some cobalt mines use child labor, which is reprehensible. And then there's the problem of recycling these things. The process in which lithium-ion batteries are recycled is not at the point it needs to be to deal with the growing number of spent batteries from electric vehicles.

                                                                      

There are plenty of different challenges associated with recycling these batteries, relatively inane things like storage becomes a huge issue because of the volatility of elements in a lithium battery. There have already been a number of fires in facilities that process old batteries is the number of potentially catastrophic fires and explosions going to go up as more batteries or stockpiled in the future. The fact of the matter is modern electric vehicle production is in its relative infancy compared to gas engines. So as time goes on, a new process is coming to play the environment. Environmental impact will get better. I hope the same can be said about where electric vehicles get their electricity right now. Many regions of the US are still getting their power from coal power plants, so the impact of driving at zero emissions car in those regions is more detrimental to the environment than driving an EV in places with clean energy such as wind, solar and hydroelectric power plants. But as those types of energy become more common, the efficiency at which an EV operates will only get better. So now that we know the very real problems of electric vehicle production, how do they compare to the gas engine? 

                                                                 

                      

Let's start where we did with electric vehicles production. manufacturing the average gas vehicle produces seven metric tons of Co 2. This number takes into account everything from the mining ore for steel to the moment the car rolls off the production line. That number is lower than EVS because of the absence of lithium-ion batteries. It also has to do with how efficient ice manufacturing has become. We're talking about the industry that is responsible for inventing the assembly line after the car rolls out of factory. Greenhouse emissions from gasoline powered cars average around 5.2 metric tons per year. And that's if the car drives the national average of about 11,800 miles per year over the lifespan of a car. It's responsible for 57 metric tons of CO2. That's seven for production and 50 in emissions. Gasoline like lithium has to be mined. The average car in the U. S. Goes through about 500 gallons of gas per year in that gas like the lithium in the batteries has to come from somewhere.

                                                                     

 There's a lot of steps between the extraction of crude oil to you filling your car at the gas station and each step has an environmental impact. Crude oil extraction starts with drilling into the earth, either on land or on the ocean floor. After the crude oil is mined, it needs to be refined into gasoline and other petroleum products such as jet fuel petroleum jelly and plastic. This process releases tons of greenhouse gasses, including not only CO2 but methane and nitrous oxide as well. Every day around the world, close to 95 million barrels of oil are produced and everyday oil refinement is responsible for emitting 767 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Sure, the average car is responsible for 5.2 tons of CO2 every year, but oil refineries release a whopping 280 billion metric tons of CO2 in that same time frame. 

                                                                     

We know that over the average lifespan of a car with an internal combustion engine, it will emit roughly 57 metric tons of CO 2 over the same time. The average E. V. Is responsible for twenty 8 metric tons of emissions, less than half of that of an ice engine. Despite the fact that electric vehicles make more CO2 during their production, they more than make up for it by not having any emissions during use. Taking into account the emissions produced by electric power plants that electric vehicles source their power from the national average for an EV is around two metric tons per year. So that means the average evil will become more efficient than a gas-powered car between six months to two years of driving it. In fact, even the least efficient electric vehicle with the dirtiest power source, like a coal power plant, will be better for the environment than the most Gas engine after a certain period of time. Electric vehicles in states with access to cleaner electricity, like windmills, solar and hydroelectric power plants are significantly more efficient. 

So, the maintain cost between EVS and gas cars quite different.  The maintain cost of an electric car is 50% lower than gas car. But my personal favorite is always gas cars. Yeah, so I just want to compare and discuss some myths and facts in our society about gas cars vs EV s. Look I just want to put the but the facts on the table. You can choose what you like most gas cars or EV s. So, comment down what cars do you prefer and love most.