Over the past century

Over the past century, automobiles that run on gasoline have grown to become an enormous part of our society. Gasoline vehicles became ubiquitous and it was hard to see any other source of power being able to compete with its dominance in the car industry. Recently, however, large breakthroughs in electric-powered vehicles have created a cleaner and safer competitor to cars that run on fossil fuels. In coming years, expect fully electric vehicles to become more widespread as more and more people abandon inferior gasoline vehicles.
A clear positive that electric vehicles have over their gas guzzling counterparts are the much lower operating costs associated with driving them. While gasoline cars are subject to the high market price of gasoline, the electricity that powers electric cars is considerably more affordable. The average annual cost of operating an EC in the United States is a mere $485, less than half of a normal car’s cost of $1,117 (“Do Electric Cars Save Money?”). Additionally, electric cars require less operating maintenance than traditional cars, as electric cars do not have complex engines that break down. The lack of transmissions, radiators, filters, exhausts, and other components used in gasoline engines lowers the cost of maintenance for EV’s, as there are less complex components to repair (Douris). The cost of owning and driving an electric vehicle alone is a huge boon over cars that use expensive gasoline and are more likely to require maintenance.
Electric vehicles are not only cheaper to maintain than gas vehicles, but they are considerably better for the environment. One reason for this is the raw energy efficiency of EV’s. Electric vehicles convert approximately 60% of the electrical energy from the grid to make the wheels of the car spin. For comparison, gas-powered vehicles only convert around 17-21% of the energy stored in gasoline to the wheels (“All-Electric Vehicles”). Additionally, electric vehicles do not exhaust harmful emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere, as gas vehicles do. Common greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are not emitted by EV’s, contributing to their lower carbon footprint. The superior efficiency and lack of harmful emissions is yet another big advantage that electric vehicles have over gasoline cars.
Some supporters of gas cars would argue that powering your car with electricity would do little to decrease your carbon footprint, as the electricity used to power EV’s sometimes comes from coal plants. Their main argument against EV’s is that the electricity used to power your car would come from unclean fuel sources, making the point of reducing emissions moot. While coal is a major source of power in the US, the use of coal has been dropping for years now. Coal went from producing 48% of the US’s power in 2007 to only producing 33% in 2015, while clean solar power are becoming cheaper and more available (O’Kane). In the next few year as renewable energy becomes more widespread, the power used to run EV’s will truly be renewable and clean for the environment.
Overall, electric vehicles are in huge ways superior to vehicles that rely on gasoline. The monetary savings of driving an EV make them inexpensive to maintain. Additionally, the reduced environmental impact of electric vehicles contributes to the planet’s wellbeing when opposed to gasoline cars and their harmful emissions. As renewable energy continues to grow, electric vehicles will become a clean and economical method of transportation in the next several years.