10 Frequently Asked Questions About Electric Vehicles

Today, the electric vehicle market has been getting a lot of media attention and generating a lot of interest. But, there are still a number of questions and false perceptions about electric vehicles by the vast majority of the public. Much of this seems based on social media hype that may or may not be true. So, I wanted to discuss the 10 most frequent questions I get about owning an electric vehicle.

Without a doubt, YES. Driving an electric vehicle produces ZERO harmful emissions, which is one of the primary issues associated with internal combustion engine (ICE) cars where research has shown that one-fifth of all emissions in the United States, emitting around 20 pounds of carbon dioxide and other global-warming gases for every gallon of gas.

But, when the manufacturing process for production, transport, disposal, and other factors are taken into account there are currently still significant impacts on the environment. The largest of which is in the production of the battery packs, which requires mining for raw materials such as cobalt. You also have to factor in the recycling or disposal of the vehicle at the end of its life and the fuels used by the power-plants to create the electricity to power the cars. However, when you factor in the typical lifecycle of a vehicle, an EV still produces 55% fewer emissions than an ICE vehicle.

Many nations are quickly moving away from fossil fuels for energy production and leveraging alternative production methods. For example, at the beginning of May 2019, the United Kingdom became the first industrialized nation that has gone an entire week without the use of coal for energy production since January 1882. The UK also did this several more times over the following months, including 14 consecutive days later in that same month of May 2019.

If this trend continues, the difference in overall emissions for the life of a vehicle will only continue to become increasingly positive for EVs.