A greenhouse gas (GHG) is a gas that discharges radiant energy. Greenhouse gases include such gases as carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide. The greenhouse effect is a process that naturally occurs that warms the Earth. Some of the Sun’s radiation is reflected off the Earth and back to space, the rest is absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases. The energy then warms the atmosphere which in-turn raises the temperature of the Earth by approximately 33 degrees Celsius.
Humans are mostly responsible for the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and transportation is one of the largest factors of greenhouse gas emissions. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (n.d.), Transportation (of all kinds) was the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the U.S. in 2016. CO2 emissions usually come from burning fossil fuels for our vehicles such as cars, trucks, etc. Over 90 percent of the fuel used for transporting people and goods is petroleum based. The issue is not just one for the United States, it is more of an international problem as transportation was also the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the European Union (EEA, 2018). This is all despite the improvement that fuel economy has undergone for almost every year since 2005.
There are three main types of electric vehicles (EVs), and they are grouped by how they use electricity as their source of energy. The main type this essay will be focusing on are Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) as they are the most effective in reducing the emissions of CO2. They are completely electric and use no gasoline engine. Battery electric vehicles store electricity onboard by using the high-capacity batteries installed within them. Their battery power is used to run the motor and all electronics in the BEV. BEVs do not emit any harmful emissions and hazards caused by traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. Battery electric vehicles are charged by electricity from an external source (EVgo, n.d.). The remaining types are Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles which both mainly use internal combustion engines (EVgo, n.d.).
The amount of Carbon an electric vehicle produces depends on the GHG emissions of the electricity produced. In France, the use of a BEV would produce around 15-22 grams of CO2/km. In Latvia EVs emit 169–234 gCO2eq/km and the EU average is around the range of 65–89 gCO2eq/km “By comparing the GHG emissions from the use of the BEV consuming 14.5 kWh/100 km with gasoline-fuelled ICEs (178 gCO2eq/km), GHG savings are achieved in all the MSs (64% of emissions are saved, on EU average); compared to diesel-fuelled ICEs (145 gCO2/km) this BEV does not always achieve GHG savings, although the EU average is 55%.” (Moro and Lonza, 2018). Although in some EU countries using Battery Electric Vehicles could emit more Carbon Dioxide, the average clearly states that to decrease our CO2 emissions we should transition to operating more and more BEVs.
The costs of electric vehicles almost always exceed that of a petrol or diesel car. Regular diesel vehicles cost in total around 21 thousand euros. Meanwhile, battery electric vehicles cost anything from 28 to 63 thousand euros. Not only is purchasing the vehicle more expensive, but the total cost of ownership for a BEV is also at least 800 euros more expensive (van Vliet et al, 2011). Although it’s more expensive to buy a BEV currently it does not seem like it will be like that forever. According to price forecasts for hybrid electric cars and internal combustion engine passenger cars, the prices may finally breakeven sometime by the years 2026 and 2032, when there are over 50 and 80 million BEVs respectively (Weiss et al., 2012).