New Transportation - Electric Cars

Electric cars

According to a new report by Environmental Defense, American cars and trucks are responsible for nearly half of the greenhouse gases emitted by automobiles globally (Wilson). Given the role that fossil fuel cars play in causing greenhouse gas emissions, people now consider electric cars as green alternatives. Contrary to what people may think, electrics cars are not new inventions. In fact, they were outcompeted by cheap and convenient gas-powered cars long ago; nevertheless, as people’s concerns over the environment increase, electric cars now have a brighter future ahead of them.

Before the mass production of gas-powered cars, electric cars gained much esteem and popularity from the 1830s to 1900s. After the first rechargeable electric car had come to the world in 1830, Deutsch inventor Sibrandus Stratingh evolved it as an efficient alternative to the internal combustion vehicle. Electric cars provided a higher level of comfort, less pollution and quieter experiences than gasoline cars because they did not have noxious exhausts and undesired noise caused by burning fossil fuels. People at that time travelled between nearby cities, so electric cars did efficient jobs in speed, duration and they did not backfire. One example was the Detroit Electric, which could last 80 miles without a recharge (Romero).

However, not long after the turn of the century, electric cars were outcompeted by the cheap and convenient gas-powered cars. Henry Ford mass produced the internal combustion engine, which could go for fairly long distances without refueling and was affordable to the average person by mass production (Romero). When low prices and high performance became the standard for choosing a vehicle, electric cars seemed to be both expensive and inconvenient compared with the Model T. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was no network of electricity on the road. Because people could not find charging stations as frequently as gas stations, electric cars soon became not as convenient as means of transportation. After several decades, in the 1990s, the California government demanded an increase in the usage of electric cars to reduce severe environmental health issues caused by smog. However, it failed because electric cars were still not cost-effective and faced pressure from big oil companies (“Who”). Electric cars were again defeated by gas-powered cars and again faded into obscurity.

In the future, a renaissance in electric cars will most likely occur, however, due to improvements in battery and powering technology and concerns over the reliance on fossil fuels and global warming. However, that future is not any day soon. For example, the Nissan Leaf only sold 9,679 units, which is far less than its target of 20,000 units. This indicates that electric cars are still not highly demanded but notes a slow start (Tuttle). Companies like Tesla Motors and the Volt are working on new models, which aim to solve the problems of price and battery efficiency. The Tesla Roadster, which first hit the streets in 2006 as a more affordable electric car uses lithium-ion battery cells and can travel more than 340 miles per charge. It is such a cost efficient car that driving the Roadster costs less than one cent per kilometer (Romero). In 2014, the Chevy Volt will design a hybrid with both electric and gas power, which has an optimistic future (Tuttle). Companies are coming up with new models every year, like Tesla’s Model X. With the improvement of price and battery and increasing concerns over environment, in the near future, electrics cars may replace fossil fuel cars. One day we could see a majority of electric cars on the road with no noxious exhausts.  
                                 Blimps