Impact Of The Electric Car Essay

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The Electric Car and The Impact on the Environment

These days technology keeps evolving. The electric car is yet another new way to help the environment. The electric car uses electricity instead of gasoline. In 1831, Michael Faraday came up with the theory for generating electricity. In 1838, Robert Anderson created the motorcycle. The first electric vehicle was made in 1839 but it wasn’t commercialised. Finally in 1873, Robert Davidson succeeded in making a practical electric car. At that time, changing gears was the most difficult aspect of driving gasoline cars, but with the electric car this was no longer necessary. It was also popular among woman drivers because it didn’t require a specific technique to drive. The electric car is …show more content…

There are currently four types of electric car: battery packs, plug in hybrid, hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell. The first type uses electricity packed in battery packs. The second type gets electricity by plugging in a socket connected to the car. The hybrid car uses a combination of batteries and gasoline. When the batteries run out, it uses gasoline. The hydrogen fuel cell type uses hydrogen to reduce electricity while the car is running. When you pump hydrogen into the vehicle, the gas travels to carbon fibre fuel tanks where it’s stored. In the front part air (oxygen) is taken into the tanks. Hydrogen goes the fuel cell tank which makes a chemical reaction with the oxygen in the air creating electricity to power the vehicle. Of course it doesn’t have any emissions but it leaves water behind because of the hydrogen and …show more content…

The first disadvantage is that they have low mileage. The normal gasoline vehicle can run for more than 400 km with a full tank. However, the electric car can only run for 200 km or less from when they are fully charged. Another disadvantage is that battery packs are extremely expensive. It depends on the brand or type of electric car but the average price of a battery pack is US$100. The cheapest one can be US$50 and the most expensive one can be US$300 per battery pack. The third issue is that it takes time to charge the battery of a plug in hybrid. Again, it depends on the type or brand. To recharge a completely empty car battery from an 120-volt socket, it takes 10-20 hours. If you use a 240-volt socket, it takes 4-8 hours. Therefore it takes at least 4 hours to fill an empty tank with electricity. Last but not least, the engine of an electric car very quiet while it’s running. This can be an advantage but it can also be a disadvantage. If it is too quiet, people might not notice that the car is coming from behind them. In some cases the electric car’s silence might be dangerous and lead to

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