As automakers prepare to adapt to a changing market, many have made enormous strides towards developing a new, “environmentally friendly” electric car. Although the intentions are good, Electric cars do not solve the problem, but rather prolong it.
However, the idea of an electric car is not necessarily a new one. In fact electric cars were first established in the mid-nineteenth century and hit the streets of New York over a decade before Henry Ford completed his first gasoline powered-model T. Due to federal subsidies for gas powered cars and the low cost of oil, Ford soon overwhelmed the market with vehicles and destroyed any hope for the electric car. Sparked by the rising costs of oil, GM released the first mass produced electric car in the late 1980’s but the movement was short lived as gas prices fell soon after along with the former USSR. Finally, after over a century of failed efforts the market seems to be swinging around for one last effort. Nissan just released the “Leaf”, a fully electric car for just over 30K and Chevrolet is following soon after with the hybrid gas-electric “Volt”.
The electric car, however is not practical and offers a band-aid to a bullet wound. Mankind does not need to change the type of car we drive, but rather the fundamental beliefs we hold on private and public transportation. Not only is it not practically cost effective, but it does not solve the environmental degradation that comes along with private transportation today.
As Peter Van Dorn points out, to compensate for the 12,500 miles the average American drives per year, every electric car would need 3 MW/hrs of electricity. However, with much of the energy lost in inefficiencies of the generator, transmission inefficiencies and transportation of electricity, it would take nearly 11 MW/hrs to generate 4 MW/hrs for the electric car. This is comparable to a 38 miles per gallon of gasoline, far exceeded by most hybrid cars today. In addition, their fixed costs far exceed those of gas powered cars with batteries having a much shorter life and higher cost than combustible engines. “To be competitive batteries would have to cost on third of what they do now or gas would have to increase to five dollars a gallon”
Its not all about the cost though, many advocates argue the environmental benefits far exceed any cost to the consumer. This issue is more complicated than it may seems. While electric cars preach zero emissions, we forget where this electricity is coming from. About half of the United States’ energy comes from coal fired power plants. While coal is still an abundant resource it releases 2.17 lbs of C02 per kWh produced. When compensating for the other half coming from natural gas and renewable energy resources, one study suggests electric cars only release 28-58% less C02 than combustible engines per kWh. This may have been an impressive feat 30 years ago, but in 2010 we must work on eliminating GHG emissions rather than just minimizing them. In addition, they still require a massive amount of resources to produce and dispose of.
The main reason I argue electric cars are not the answer is the principle behind the electric car. The electric car does not fix the fact that 77% of daily commuters drive alone, but rather pushes the problem to the next generation. The massive amount of money it will cost to create hundreds of thousands of electric car hubs could be used at educating and improving upon our broken public transportation system. One greyhound bus takes on average 34 cars off the road and city busses replace even more. In addition, money could be well spent on developing efficient high speed trains for distant travelers (who shouldn’t have to travel so far daily in the first place) and bike-share hubs for city dwellers.
As stated, electric cars help only in the short run, but in the long run we still face the same problems. Electric cars still support the notion that dispersed or satellite communities are acceptable and “minimizing” greenhouse gas emissions is enough. We must do more in order to promise a more sustainable future.
While I agree with many of your points, I see them in a different light. I think that we need to rapidly develop electric cars which can be used as distributed storage for intermittent sources of renewable energy. Part of the reason we are not making further use of our widely available wind and solar resources to make electricity is that they are intermittent sources and we need enough electricity to meet demand at all hours of the day.If we invest in grid improvements and electric cars, the batteries in cars can act as distributed storage to store excess electricity when we don't need it and sell it back to the grid when it is needed. This will accomplish both the goals of cleaner renewable energy powered transportation, and a cleaner form of energy to produce electricity for our homes. As we develop electric vehicle technology we will be able to adapt it for use in the mass transit systems we will need in the future, so that these too, will have decreased environmental impact. It is unlikely that in the short time we have to make a change in our consumption patterns that we will be able to move people out of the suburbs where we have built enormous housing and infrastructure back into urban centers. We simply cannot afford (nor should we want to) to abandon what we have already invested so much in. It is however likely that we could deploy electric vehicles in that short time span to rapidly reduce emissions while we work toward cultural change.
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ReplyDeleteI never heard this side of the electric car debate, but you raise some really interesting points. I can definitely see why the electric car seems like a band-aid for the problem, and I also agree their use could somehow "justify" and exacerbate urban sprawl and other environmental problems. Also, the amount of energy it takes to make the cars we have on the road today is incredibly high and intensive; if more and more people begin replacing their old cars, it's as if all the energy it took to make gasoline powered vehicles was in vain. Ideally, our current cars could be converted into greener technologies. And I also agree public transportation should be what we invest our time and energy in since it's extremely effective and significantly reduces carbon emissions. If public transportation was made even more convenient and appealing to people, less people would rely on automobiles, and I think this is something we should really start focusing on. I also think the disconnect between human and environmental health and vitality should be bridged so more people realize how reliant on and connected to nature we really are. I also agree that we just need to get down to the root of the problem (auto-dependency, high consumption rates, urban sprawl, etc.) rather than cover it up with another technology (electric cars) that will inevitably have its own future quirks.
ReplyDeleteThe light you shine on the electric car conversation is important. But I think it is important to remember the history and coevolution personal vehicles have with other parts of our society. First, we need to remember that the car mentality was grown around the same time as the suburb mentality. The two are mutually exclusive: we want our houses in the fields so we need an easy way to get to and from the places we need to get. Unless we address the structure of our residential communities I fear that cars may be here to stay. Public transportation in urban sprawl is unwieldy and I have a difficult time seeing it really catch on. Second, we are a consumer society. We enjoy shopping, and the numbers show that we really enjoy shopping for cars. They are a status symbol, a stress release, and a means for us to participate in the economy. Buying a Greyhound ticket, or deciding to ride Amtrak does not carry the same sorts of consumer catharsis as purchasing a car. I think that keeping in mind these two points really can help frame the problem we face with personal vehicles. Fundamental changes to our culture (not our technology) is going to be the answer.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that electric cars are not a good solution to current environmental problems. The issue is not cars but how cars are powered. Current cars do make Americans dependent on fossil fuels because that is what they run. Electric cars do not perpetuate the same vicious cycle. Electric cars can easily be powered by renewable energy sources and thus eliminate the problem of fossil fuels. Also, I must point out that this technology can be expanded to other forms of transportation. Already there are electric bikes, motocycles, and buses being used. The growth of this technology signals a country that is becoming more sustainable.
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