Invest in an electric car, the planet will thank you

Pixabay

Pixabay

Esther Nunez

In recent years, there has been an increase in the popularity of electric cars in the United States.

Innovative electric vehicle brands like Tesla have paved the way for the standardization of electric car purchases. Some have been motivated to purchase solely for aesthetic and technological purposes but investing in an electric car is better for the planet than in cars with gas engines.

Cars fueled by gas and diesel contribute immensely to global warming and pollution.

“A typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. This assumes the average gasoline vehicle on the road today has a fuel economy of about 22.0 miles per gallon and drives around 11,500 miles per year,” according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Every gallon of gasoline burned creates about 8,887 grams of carbon dioxide.

Given that Earth is the only planet humans can inhabit, the cost of large carbon emissions caused by gas and diesel fueled cars far outnumber the benefits of having one. Although electric cars constitute for less than 3% of the automotive market, there is a pressing need for the widespread use of these vehicles on a national and international scale.

Even President Joe Biden and his administration are aiming to increase the typical use of electric cars with the hope of creating an all-electric vehicle movement in the United States.

“The administration plans to attack the task from two directions: First, by spending hundreds of billions in increased incentives and subsidies for automakers and the development of new charging station infrastructure; second, by imposing new regulations that would dramatically raise the cost of gasoline and the internal combustion cars that use it,” Forbes reported.

Even though the upfront cost of an electric vehicle is higher than a car with a gas engine, electric cars are cheaper in the long run. They don’t need gas or oil changes, saving drivers hundreds of dollars annually.

Hearst Auto Research wrote that electric cars are highly efficient. They run quieter than gas vehicles, require less frequent maintenance and, depending on the energy source, electricity can be renewable.

The price paid for a cheap gas-fueled vehicle ends up costing more than an electric car due to the extra maintenance costs and economic impact caused by their gas engines.

Purchasing an all-electric vehicle is an investment not just for consumers, but the entire planet.