Electric Powered Vehicles vs. Gasoline Powered - Essay Example

?[Your full full December 01, Electric Powered Vehicles vs. Gasoline Powered Introduction In the present world, car is of critical importance in any individual’s life. “Since the invention of the first steam powered car in 1672, cars have come a long way to become an integral part of our lives” (Naik). There is not a single category of cars manufactured by the automobile manufacturing companies; rather they are categorized into many types based on mechanical specifications, shape, performance, and size. Apart from difference in brands, there also exist some differences in the types of cars. Two of the most renowned types include electric cars and gasoline cars. Both of these types of cars have some advantages and disadvantages, which make the people switch from one car type to another. In this research paper, we will discuss whether we will need to invest in electric cars in future or not. Along with this, we will also take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of gasoline cars and electric cars in order to get a better understanding of why we will need to shift to electric cars in future. Features of Electric Cars An electric car is a vehicle that makes use of electric motors and batteries instead of engines used by the gasoline cars. The rechargeable batteries control the main parts of electric cars, which give power to the electric motors that run the cars. A number of features make electric cars different from gasoline cars. Some of the most considerable features of electric cars include durability, convenience, much more efficiency as compared to gas engines, up to 500 hundred percent more efficiency than internal combustion engines, regenerative breaking system, and no emission production. There is no emission of fuels from electric cars because electric cars do not use gas at all for any purpose. “Once electricity is more commonly produced by water or wind, getting clean power to run electric cars will leave an even smaller carbon footprint” (Cultrona). Compared to the internal combustion engines, electric cars provide up to three times more stored energy to the wheels. An electric car is also more quite, reliable, and consistent than the gasoline cars. The use of regenerative breaking system saves up to 30 percent of the energy, which is redirected back to the battery. These were some of the features, which make electric car an attractive choice for the consumers. Reasons that Make People Invest in Electric Cars Linde states that one can save up to 85 percent of the travel bill using an electric car (7). Due to increase in the prices of oil and petroleum, people have again developed their interest in using electric cars. If we talk about the reasons for using electric cars, we can say that there are various environmental and economic reasons, which have made people prefer electric cars for their personal use instead of gasoline cars. Toyota Prius and the Smart Car are two of the most successful models of electric cars, which have attracted a large number of people towards the use of electric cars. Statistics of air pollution in the recent years show that Toyota Prius has contributed significantly towards reduction in the air pollution. Some of the most prominent features of these electric cars include ease of maintenance, no pollutant emissions, consumption of energy, more reliability, less noise, and reduced oil consumption. Ease of Maintenance One of the major benefits of electric cars, which attract people towards them, is lower operating and maintenance costs as compared to gasoline cars. Parts of electric cars are easily replaceable because they are not very complex as far as their assembly is concerned. However, in case of gasoline cars, assembly or repair of parts is very difficult because hundreds of small parts combine to form one major part such as engine. Electric cars generally have fewer problems related to their operating mechanisms. There are no complex systems in the electric cars, which can raise the level of complexity of car maintenance. Even though purchasing cost of electric cars is somewhat higher as compared to gasoline cars, but ease of maintenance, reliability, and consistency are those features, which give electric cars an edge over their competitors. Electric cars do not put extra burden of maintenance cost on the buyers. The major part, which needs to be taken care off, is the battery of the car because battery is the main force that runs an electric car. The main reason behind expensiveness of electric cars is their batteries. The higher cost of newer battery technologies and lack of mass manufacturing of the car components play a major role in increasing the price of an electric car (Soliday). Some electric cars use highly priced lithium-ion batteries. The lithium-ion batteries are so much powerful that they can run the car approximately 200 miles per charge. Tesla Roadster is an example of electric cars, which uses lithium-ion battery that makes the car run up to 245 miles per charge, which is really a good mileage. Only a few cents per mile to drive is one of the greatest advantages of owning an electric car. However, where electric cars are becoming popular day by day, the high price is playing the role of an obstacle for electric cars. People belonging to the United States of America and the United Kingdom do not like to pay extra price for electric cars and that is the main reason behind no mass transition to electric cars. Consumption of Energy Electric cars use all of their energy in driving the car as compared to gasoline cars, which waste two-third of fuel and use the rest. “Electric cars use energy more efficiently than gas powered cars” (Soliday). Researchers have found that a gasoline car makes use of only $0.33 of every $1.00 fuel for generating energy that a car owner puts in the car. This is really a very less use of fuel as compared to the use of fuel by electric cars, which use almost entire energy in driving the car towards the destination. The process of extracting energy from burning gasoline and then converting the extracted energy into mechanical energy is not very efficient in case of gasoline cars. Electric cars are much more efficient than gasoline cars in making use of energy needed to turn the wheels of a car. Therefore, the efficient use of energy is also a factor behind increased interest of the public in using electric cars. No Pollutant Emission Environment friendliness is one of the greatest attractions of an electric car. Brain states, “Electric cars create less pollution than gasoline-powered cars, so they are an environmentally friendly alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles”. Electric cars do not emit any pollutant that can harm the environment, whereas gasoline cars emit many dangerous pollutants into the environment making the environment harmful for humans and other creatures. Pollution in the environment is a big issue these days for all countries of the world and diesel and gasoline cars are the real contributors towards this pollution. It is not only the responsibility of the car manufacturing companies to manufacture environment friendly cars but also the people should take the responsibility to secure the environment of the earth. That is the reason why people have shifted their choice from gasoline and diesel cars to electric cars. The engines of gasoline cars cannot work without oil and when the cars emit the used oil in the air, it harms the environment whereas in case of electric cars, there is no use of oils. We cannot say that electric cars have zero environmental impacts; however, the impact is very less as compared to the gas powered rigs. The only source of negative environmental impact of electric cars is the production of electricity from coal fiber power plants but even that impact is considerably less as compared to the harmful impact made by the engines of gasoline cars. Therefore, we can say that no pollutant emission is one of the main benefits of an electric car, which is making people prefer electric cars instead of gasoline cars. Lower overall emission is another reason why people have started to shift their interest from gasoline cars to electric cars. In the gasoline cars, the fuel emission rate is considerably higher as compared to electric cars, which poses a great threat to the environment. Electric cars are not only environment friendly in nature but also they turn out to be a great help for the American government in terms of reducing the demand for oil. An echo friendly consumer prefers to use electric car whereas a consumer who demands echo friendliness as well as good mileage, goes for a hybrid car such as Toyota Prius, Smart car, or Honda Insight. The price of foreign oil has been significantly increased since 1990, which has resulted in creating economic problems for the whole world. Not all people can afford gasoline cars because of increased fuel rates all over the world. “People prefer this type of motors because it will save them a lot of money they pay for gas” (Altaf). In the United States of America, a person runs a car 30 to 40 miles daily on average, which is not a long distance. Therefore, people have already started investing in electric cars for personal use because electric cars not only rely on electricity instead of oil but also cut down the maintenance costs. More Reliability Electric cars make use of very reliable electric motors instead of engines. The electric motors do not create problems for the car owners whereas the engines of gasoline cars put a great financial burden on the car owners once a fault occurs. An engine of electric motor having five moving parts and an engine of a gasoline car having hundreds of moving parts definitely cause some difference as far as complexity and reliability is concerned. Soliday states, “Engine repairs are almost not existent since electric motors are very reliable and long lasting”. Even if a motor gets older, it just requires some work on the motor’s brushes and the motor gets perfect for use again, whereas in case of gasoline engines, repair work not only requires more time as compared to motors but also the repair is much more expensive and somewhat unreliable. Therefore, reliability of parts of an electric car makes it a good choice for most of the people all over the world. Overnight Charging Another benefit of electric cars is that of overnight charging. The owners of electric cars usually recharge their cars’ batteries at night because at that point of time, the demand for electricity is relatively low. A benefit of overnight charging is that it does not create a problem of fuel shortage for the car owners because electricity is available at all recharge facilities and the car owners do not face any problem in recharging the batteries. Quietness of Electric Cars Another benefit, which attracts many people towards electric cars, is their quietness. Electric cars are very quite as compared to gasoline cars. “When you drive an electric car, often the only thing that clues you in to its true nature is the fact that it is nearly silent” (Brain). Electric cars generate a very low sound while running whereas in case of gasoline cars, different sounds occur because of different mechanical faults. “Electric cars are quiet, smooth and tend to have faster acceleration than combustion engine based vehicles” (Alex). Style and Features of Newer Models Some newer models of electric cars such as Tesla Roadster, BMW Mini-E, Fisker Karma, and Chevrolet Volt are very stylish and contain special features, which attract a large number of people. These models of electric cars are more stylish and attractive as compared to older models. “Electric cars typically have not offered all of the stylish and convenient perks that some gasoline powered cars do, but newer electric models continue to increase the amount of features available” (Vaughan). Some Negative Points Related To Electric Cars Apart from the benefits of owning an electric car, there also exist some negative points regarding these types of cars. Some of those points include limited range, long time to recharge the battery, expensiveness, and onboard energy storage. Let us discuss these issues in detail in order to know whether these drawbacks overshadow the benefits of electric cars or not. Limited Range Limited range is one of the most considerable issues regarding electric cars. At present most of the electric cars go only up to 100 miles per charge, which is really very less mileage as compared to gasoline cars. The average cost of electricity is 7 cents per kilowatt-hour. An average electric car costs about 4 to 5 cents per mile but its limited range overshadows the running cost. Long Time to Recharge the Battery Smith states, “Electric cars are totally electric, meaning that they must be plugged in and charged, and that the range of the car is only as far as the charge”. If we compare the time taken to refill a gas tank and the time required to recharge an electric car’s battery, we come to know that there is a huge difference in the timings of the two. A gas tank takes a couple of minutes to refill whereas a battery requires hours for its recharge. Therefore, we can say that the time taken by a battery to recharge is very long as compared to the time taken to refill the gas tanks and that long duration makes electric car not a good choice for the busy people. Automobile engineers need to find out some effective techniques to reduce the recharge time in order to make electric cars attractive for the consumers. Onboard Energy Storage Onboard energy storage is also a drawback associated with electric cars. Some batteries are extremely heavier which also affect the performance of the electric vehicles. Storing the energy to run the car is although useful, but it adds to the weight of a car affecting the overall performance of the car. These were some of the main drawbacks of electric cars. However, these disadvantages or drawbacks cannot overshadow the advantages, which come with electric cars. The increased efficiency, durability, quietness, and lower maintenance costs are some of those benefits, which are able to attract a large number of people towards electric cars. Conclusion Summing it up, an electric car is a vehicle that makes use of electric motors and batteries instead of gas engines. A number of features make electric cars different from gasoline cars, such as increased reliability, convenience, increased efficiency, regenerative breaking system, and no emission production. People have started to develop their interest in electric cars not only due to the increase in prices of oil and petroleum but also due to various considerable features of electric cars such as lower maintenance costs, echo friendliness, and quietness. Along with various benefits, there also exist some drawbacks of electric cars. Some of those drawbacks include limited range, long time to recharge, and expensiveness. The automobile engineers need to remove those drawbacks in order to make electric cars more attractive for the consumers. Works Cited Altaf, Humayun. “Electric Car Motor - Why People Prefer Electric Motors.” Ezinearticles.com, 09 Feb. 2010. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. Alex, Neal. “Benefits of Electric cars.” Gogreenzine.com, 02 May 2011. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. Brain Marshall. “How Electric cars Work.” Howstuffworks.com, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. Cultrona, Ralph. “The Pro and Cons of Electric Cars.” Ehow.com, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. Linde, Arvids. Electric Cars - The Future is Now! Your guide to the cars you can buy now and what the future holds. Dorset: Veloce Publishing Limited, 2010. Print. Naik, Abhijit. “Types of Cars.” Buzzle.com, 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. Smith, Stan. “What is the Difference Between Electric Cars and Hybrid Cars?.” Wisegeek.com, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. Soliday, Stan. “Advantages of Electric Cars.” Ezinearticles.com, 28 May 2010. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. Vaughan, Brian. “Gasoline Cars Vs. Electric Cars: Which Is Better?.” Ehow.com, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2011. Read More