Electric Vehicles and the Environment: How Do EVs Help Climate Change?

In the past couple of decades, the number of cars that run on fuels have increased rapidly leading to a surge in CO2 emissions as well. To combat the rising environmental concerns, today’s top car manufacturers have already begun developing electric vehicles and the results have been good so far.

The electric vehicle global market was valued at $162.34 billion last year. As per researchers, it will reach a whopping $802.81 billion by 2027 with a compound annual growth rate of 22.6%.

Greener Than Fossil Fuel Powered Cars

Car manufacturers and governing bodies are doing their best in increasing the number of EVs on the road. As per recent studies, fossil-fueled cars will emit more CO2 as compared to an electric car throughout its life cycle. According to the study held in Australia, fossil fueled cars emitted 333g of CO2 per KM whereas electric cars had 273g of CO2 per KM.

Then in New Zealand, fossil fueled cars had the same emissions. However, electric vehicles have 128g CO2 per KM. We can expect the same gap between fossil fueled cars and electric vehicles across the world. Obviously, this would mean a lesser carbon footprint on the environment.

Why is it a must to reduce CO2 emissions? Extra carbon dioxide in the environment can hasten the greenhouse effect, thus resulting in a faster rate of global warming. As the world becomes warmer, the polar ice caps begin to melt, thereby increasing the water levels worldwide. By reducing CO2 emissions, we can slow down - or even prevent the inevitable from happening.

The Batteries Recycled In An Eco-Friendly Way

Like all batteries, the ones found in an electric vehicle will eventually die out. What’s great is that the batteries can be replaced and the previous one can be recycled efficiently. When recycling the batteries, manufacturers will remove essential materials such as cobalt, lithium salts, copper, aluminum, and then plastic.

As of now, only half the materials in an electric vehicle’s batteries are recycled. However, as these vehicles are becoming more common, it’s likely that manufacturers will improve on this in the future to further lessen the environmental impact.

Electric vehicles are certainly starting to take over roads, and they are most likely going to be the primary car of choice in the future. One of the downsides to electric vehicles before was that they were more expensive than regular cars. However, as manufacturers continue to develop the right technology, they can lessen the production costs as well.

These vehicles are single-handedly lessening our negative impact on the environment. Hopefully, more people see the merits in using these vehicles in the future as there’s still time for us to save the planet.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes