Careful scrutiny of electric cars has determined that despite popular belief, they are the cleanest, most ecologically friendly vehicle option today. As technology improves, the benefits of electric cars over other types of automobiles will grow.
While it’s true that actually creating an electric car uses more resources than a conventional vehicle because of the large batteries necessary, the ultimate efficiency of electric cars has far surpassed conventional ones. The electric car is still the cleanest option throughout the duration of its lifecycle – from creation to discard. And the benefits are great. High manufacturing emissions are considerably offset by the benefits of driving an electric car.
Some critics have cited a potential shortage of resources required by the electric car. However, the Journal of Industrial Ecology has determined that even if everyone in the country suddenly started driving an electric car, there are enough lithium resources to handle the demand until the year 2100. A careful peer review of this study confirms the findings.
These batteries won’t be thrown away because they are expensive to create, not to mention valuable. Even after they are no longer suitable for vehicle use, they retain 80% of their capacity. This means that can then provide grid energy storage – assisting the integration of solar and wind power.
The batteries can also be recycled, which, according to experts at Argonne National Laboratory, might cut CO2 emissions by 50%.
