Keeping Electric Cars Green

When you think of Electric cars, you think of clean energy.

You would be forgiven for thinking it’s a source of power that won’t pollute the environment, but this certainly isn’t always the case.

How clean the energy your electric car uses is almost completely dependent on the area in which you live. Of course we’re not saying avoid electric cars, as they are the future of transport.

However, we think you should know that you, the reader, should be aware of how dirty clean energy can be.

Electricity can be dirtier than you think

Many regions still use the age old method of burning coal and oil to generate electricity, obviously a big no no in terms of green energy and almost completely equalises the eco friendly benefits of using Electric cars, this doesn’t mean that it’s just as beneficial to use a gasoline car as there are methods covered later that you can take to make your electric car as green as possible.

So how else do we create electricity?

How do you think that electricity is made? Hydro electric dams and Wind farms are all valuable sources of energy, but they simply cannot cope with all the demand for electricity.

Take for example that one wind turbine roughly generates enough energy over the course of a year for 1,500 households. Which does seem like a great return, but consider the amount of households in the USA, which approximately stands at 114,800,000. This means that to generate enough electricity for all these households it would require 76,533 wind turbines.

Now that’s a lot of space needed to construct these giant windmills, other points to consider is that a wind turbine will only produce enough energy for 1,500 households if they are in suitable areas with optimal wind power. It would be a terrible logistical task to meet the criteria for space and suitable wind power in order to generate its optimal capabilities.

It is not as simple as erecting wind farms up and down the country.

So what are the steps you need to take to uncover how green your mode of transit can be?

Firstly check how the region that you reside in generates its electricity.

If it’s predominantly created by the incineration of oil and coal, you’re better off generating your own electricity.

Many owners of Electric cars have decided to install solar panels to their houses in order to make sure that they are making the most out of their eco friendly automobiles.

Other benefits of this method also include obviously powering your house, and if you happen to generate enough energy via the solar panels you can even sell the excess to the energy companies!

Other benefits of using electric cars:

• Batteries are close to 100% recyclable! This means that when your car reaches the end of its shelf life and is taken to car breakers that there are no environmentally hazardous materials to dispose of, unlike regular gasoline cars
• No more absurd gasoline prices, as if you needed any other reason to drive an electric car, with the prices of gasoline on the up and up you’re likely to save a lot of money in the future from just plugging in your electric car.
• Resale value, on average should you decide that electric cars just aren’t your thing, the resale value on an electric vehicle is typically a lot higher than a regular gasoline powered car. So you need to visit the scrap yard just yet!