Electric Cars: Perfect solution? Maybe not

The electric powered automobile has come and gone throughout the ages.  In fact the electric car was invented before the gasoline car.  The first electric cars, conceived during the early 1800's, were simply buggies, that were once horse drawn, equipped with batteries and a small electric motor. According to the US Department of Energy, it wasn't until 1890 that the first successful electric car was made here in the U.S. It held six passengers and had a whopping top speed of 14 miles per hour. Compare that to the Tesla Model S, the quickest (0-60) production sedan ever made, and you could say improvements have been made. 

Tesla Model S

Benefits of an Electric Car

One of the main benefits of an electric car is not having to pay for gas.  Even with the lowest gas prices since 2008, I don't know a person who would turn down not having to pay for gas. Another key factor that influences someone to buy an electric vehicle is the environment. Electric cars, unlike gasoline or diesel cars, do not emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Another benefit of electric cars is the smooth ride, as there are no gears to shift. An electric vehicle doesn't have to change gears as the torque is immediate. It isn't like a gas engine which takes a certain RPM to reach maximum torque and horsepower. An electric motor produces just as much torque at 1 RPM as it does at 6000 RPM.

Another benefit of this immediate torque is performance. With peak torque available with a minimal amount of throttle input, some electric cars can actually be fun to drive. According to CarandDriver.com the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV has 140hp and a whopping 400 ft.-lbs. of torque. Compare that to its gasoline counterpart at 84hp and 83 ft.-lbs. of torque, and you see quite a difference. That is a 167% increase in horsepower, and a stunning 481% increase in torque. A gas engine with comparable torque numbers is a GM Ram Jet 350 crate engine. Yes it takes 5.7 liters of gasoline powered engine to pump out as much torque as an electric motor in a compact car. And it takes revving up to 3500 RPM to reach that max torque, whereas the Spark EV's torque is immediate.

What they don't tell you

While many car dealers and electric car owners will tell you, "Well if you buy this electric car you wont have to pay for gas ever again." or "My car doesn't hurt the environment.", they are forgetting one thing. That is that this energy that is powering their cars isn't free, and it doesn't just come from nowhere. Much of the electricity consumed by Americans is produced by burning coal. This process releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. And the more strain is on the grid (the more electricity used), the more coal has to be burned. So based on this electric cars release greenhouse gases, indirectly. The amount that is released is significantly lower than that of a common automobile, but it is still an impact. Also, unless you have an immensely generous power company, you have to pay for all of the electricity that you use. So unless you have a Tesla and use their system of Supercharger stations, you are still paying for your fuel. Once again, it is about a fifth of the cost of gasoline, but it isn't zero.

In the end, the electric car may be a more suitable solution to the depletion of fossil fuels and the accumulation of greenhouse gases than gasoline cars, but it is still not the PERFECT solution.