Electric Vehicles are
not "Green"
Edward Frye
Western Governors
University
October 26, 2011
Electric Vehicles are
not "Green"
Over the last several years there has been much advancement
in the automotive industry around hybrid technology as well as electric
vehicles (EVs). There is also a lot of hype in the media around being
"Green" or environment friendly. However, research shows that the
production and operation of a pure electric car is no better to the environment
and produces roughly the same greenhouse gasses as a traditional petroleum
powered passenger car; this is because the majority of electricity needed to
power an electric car is produced by burning fossil fuels; transmission and
storage of electricity for electric cars is inefficient; and the materials used
to store electricity for these cars must be mined, refined and shipped before
they can be turned into batteries.