How electric cars are going to plummet the fuel car sales?

When electric cars first appeared, they looked like a way for the world to escape dependence on fossil fuels and move to an environmentally friendly method to power our transportation. High costs and poor battery performance have deterred many people from leaping, however, which begs the question: can electric cars replace fuel cars one day?

The inventors of the internal combustion engine understood that petroleum held a large amount of energy, as 84% of the volume of crude oil can be burned and converted to energy. Can you think of any other substance that can take you and 2,000 pounds of car 30 or more miles on just a gallon of it?

Few people can, which is why gasoline-fueled cars have been the norm for over 100 years. Over time, engineers have searched for other methods to power our cars. Modern methods include hydrogen-powered vehicles running on hydrogen fuel cells, but creating hydrogen fuel cells takes as much energy as it expands, so outside of areas like Iceland, hydrogen fuel is not necessarily practical or cost-effective.

Some countries have experimented with plant-based fuels, such as corn-based ethanol, which is a major component in E85 fuel, and oil and fat-based Biodiesel, which is used in some public transportation systems. This has worked well in Brazil, where enough sugar cane is grown to fuel much of the country's transportation needs.

Natural gas and propane have also been considered, but just like the gasoline they hope to replace, these are carbon polluting fossil fuels, a limited resource in an increasingly resource-hungry world. Electric cars have had the best adoption of alternative-powered cars thanks to several factors. First, the cost of electricity is competitive for consumers with the price of gasoline. Second, nearly everyone with a car has a power outlet in their home. Recharging is easy.

Electric cars struggled when they were first brought to market, largely due to high costs, a lack of familiarity, and resistance from major automakers to produce them, as chronicled in the 2006 documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car." But since 2006, quite a lot has changed. Electric cars are commonly spotted on roads around the United States and Europe, and their popularity is growing. But can electric cars fully replace our gas-powered cars, or are they still going to always fall second to their predecessors? The largest source of climate pollution in the world? Transportation. To solve the climate crisis, we need to make the vehicles on our roads as clean as possible. We have only a decade left to change the way we use energy to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Emissions from cars and trucks are not only bad for our planet, but they’re also bad for our health. Air pollutants from gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles cause asthma, bronchitis, cancer, and premature death. The long-term health impacts of localized air pollution last a lifetime, with the effects borne out in asthma attacks, lung damage, and heart conditions. The electricity that charges and fuels battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles come from power grids, which rely on a range of sources — from fossil fuels to clean renewable energy.

Energy grids can vary from one state to another, which means that the carbon footprint of driving an electric vehicle ranges depending on the source of its electricity. In the manufacturing process, electric vehicles will produce more global warming emissions than the average gasoline vehicle, because electric cars’ large lithium-ion batteries require a lot of materials and energy to build. (For example, manufacturing a mid-sized electric car with an 84-mile range, results in 15% more emissions.)However, once the vehicles get on the road, it’s a whole different energy story. Electric vehicles make up for their higher manufacturing emissions within, at most, eighteen months of driving — and continue to outperform gasoline cars until the end of their lives.

Electric vehicles have already replaced fuel cars for a growing number of people, and as technology improves, they will become more popular. The average commute in the United States is 25 minutes each way, which likely falls within the range of most EVs today, but adding errands or road trips may make that EV impractical.

Until battery technology improves, most of us are stuck with our trips to the pump, but with improved technology, our fuel cars might become a thing of the past.

--- Atreyee Panja