In today’s modern world, many of us are becoming more conscious of our impact on the environment across each area of our lives – most importantly, our driving.
So, if you’re looking to get from A to B in a ‘greener’ way, what’s the best option?
With the technological advancements that have swept the automotive industry, the answer is clear – electric vehicles (EVs).
Read on to learn all about EVs, including what they are, how they work, and how they can help you reduce your carbon footprint when driving.
You should also research more information on how to insure your EV, or insure electric vehicle components, such as home charging stations, for example.
What is an electric car?
An EV is a specific type of vehicle that uses electric motors and the charge of an electric battery to propel the car.
In most standard gas cars, there’s a gas engine that ignites and combusts gasoline to move the wheels of the car. When it comes to EVS, there’s an electric battery installed in the car that moves the electric motors, and these are attached to the car wheels.
How do electric cars work?
In general, as mentioned above, EVs work with the charge of an electric battery that moves electric motors attached to the car wheels.
However, the specific mechanics of your EV will vary depending on the type of EV you own – a hybrid vehicle, plug-in hybrid vehicle, or fully electric vehicle.
Hybrid vehicles combine both a standard gas engine and an electric battery for propulsion. The battery is small, so it only adds a few additional miles of range, and it only kicks in at lower speeds. These cars need to be refuelled with gasoline, and the battery charges itself with regenerative braking.
Plug-in hybrid vehicles are similar to hybrids, in that they use both a gas engine and battery. These, however, have a much larger battery that offers an electric range of around 30 miles, and can run on the battery alone, without gasoline. These cars need to be refuelled, and also plugged into a charging port – either at a charging station, or suitable electrical outlet.
Fully electric vehicles don’t have a gas engine whatsoever, and run solely on the electric battery. Pure EVs have an average range of 250-350 miles, but this can extend to over 400 miles with higher-end models. These cars need to be re-charged to operate.
How can electric cars lower you carbon footprint when driving?
EVs are the most environmentally friendly car option, and can help lower your carbon footprint in many ways, but mainly since they are much more fuel efficient.
Your carbon footprint increases with the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions you let out into the Earth’s atmosphere. These emissions are very harmful to the planet, damaging the ozone layer and contributing to global warming – which leads to its own vast range of damages.
One of the biggest causes of CO2 emissions is when gasoline is burned in cars, and released into the atmosphere. Therefore, the more fuel your car consumes, the larger your carbon footprint.
EVs can significantly reduce this footprint, since they use much less fuel in their operation, due to the electric battery propelling the car. Likewise, hybrids and plug-in hybrids consume much less fuel when their electric battery kicks in and moves the car, instead of gasoline being consumed.
With pure EVs, there’s no gasoline being burned whatsoever, so this has a massive reduction in the CO2 that’s released by your driving.
—
With more of us making the switch to EVs we’ll be leaving a much cleaner, more sustainable impact on the planet.
