Electric vehicles are helpful for the environment because they don’t give off as many harmful emissions as regular vehicles, as well as helping to protect the climate and reduce overall oil consumption. Another advantage of electric vehicles is that they save motorists on fuel costs.
While electric vehicles do give off global warming emissions, they don’t give off as many as vehicles that run purely off of gasoline when charged from the electricity grid. The amount of emissions an electric vehicle gives off depends on the blend of energy sources channeling through an area’s electricity grid.
In 2014, the Union of Concerned Scientists reported that the driver of an electric vehicle could save an estimated $13,000 on the cost of fuel in addition to using fewer than roughly 6,100 gallons of gasoline over the life of an electric vehicle, when compared to a compact car. Drivers of electric cars are also able to travel longer distances than drivers of vehicles powered only by gasoline.
When fuels that give off zero-emissions, such as wind and sun, are used to fully power electric vehicles, such vehicles do very little to negatively impact global warming and public health. The amount of emissions that an electric vehicle gives off is dependent on where the driver lives and how electric vehicle emissions compare to hybrid vehicle emissions in that particular area.
