From Guest Blogger Andre: Common Myths About Electric Cars and Green Energy

As electric cars grow in popularity, many detractors continue to promote common myths that imply that electric vehicles are not as green as they are reported to be. In fact, electric cars are the cleanest vehicles on the road today, despite the prevalence of these myths.

Electricity Creates Pollution

Today’s electric grids consist of a combination of gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, wind, geothermal and solar, so that electricity is significantly cleaner than other forms of energy. Today’s electric car emits half the carbon pollution per mile as the average new vehicle, and in some states, where fuel mixes are cleaner, an electric car may emit one-quarter the emission of its traditional counterparts. In 2007, Renewable Energy, in partnership with the Electric Power Research Institute conducted a two-year long study that concluded that the use of electricity to fuel vehicles substantially reduces carbon emissions. Since that study, improvements to the electric grid have improved tremendously regarding allowances for ozone-forming emissions, fine particulate pollution and other factors that affect the environment further reducing the impact of electric-powered vehicles.

Electric Cars are Expensive to Build

It is true that some components of an electric car costs significantly more than those in a standard car, such as the need for larger batteries. However, as auto makers improve technology necessary to build greener vehicles, costs will reduce. Auto makers today are investigating recycling possibilities and more efficient production capabilities in order to bring the costs of producing all types of vehicles down to make them more affordable for consumers. For many environmentalists, the cost to build an electric car is offset by the benefits it provides to the environment. As suggested by the Kloster Group, Central Coast dealership, the costs for many electric vehicles have already come down, as evidenced by models built by Honda, Ford and Volkswagen, all of which are priced lower than the original hybrid vehicle, the Toyota Prius.

Building Electric Cars Pollutes the Environment

An original study conducted in Norway reported that the production of electric cars was much higher than production of traditional cars. However, that study was corrected after it was released as data used in the original study was incorrect. The only area where the study found the possibility of environmental damage from the production of electric cars was in the disposal of advanced battery materials, and research is being conducted to address the potential threat.

Building the Batteries to Power the Cars is Not Green

The Journal of Industrial Ecology reports that there is no shortage of materials needed to build the special batteries necessary to power electric cars. This indicates that there is no additional environmental impact related to the mining of materials necessary to build those batteries. Disposal of the batteries is also not a factor, as it is unusual for a battery to simply be thrown away. Even when the batteries used in the vehicles are no longer able to power the car, they still retain approximately 80 percent of their storage capacity and are prime for recycling efforts for use as energy storage to integrate renewable sources into an energy grid, such as wind or solar. Finally, the automotive industry has been recycling parts of vehicles for years, and, today, 95 percent of all vehicle parts are recycled. In fact, batteries in conventional cars are, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the most recycled product of any the agency tracks, with 96 percent of car batteries recycled. Add to the benefit that advanced batteries could reduce emissions by 50 percent, and there is no doubt that mining and disposing of electric car batteries would have far less impact on the environment.

Despite the fact that repeated studies have shown that electric cars significantly reduce carbon emissions, there are still many detractors who promote myths regarding the environmental benefits the vehicles offer. However, those myths are easily dispelled with facts, statistics and further research into improving the reduction in emissions from vehicles.