The Electric Vehicle: Good or Bad?

The Electric Vehicle: Good or Bad?

By

Elizabeth Andrews

English 102: Writing Research Paper

Instructor: David McCarthy

Outline

1. Introduction Paragraph and thesis

2. History of Electric Vehicles

a) 1890-1929: Early ideas

b) 1930-1989: brought up due to shortages from WWII

c) 1900-present: environmental issues, shortage on gasoline

3. Impact on environment and what needs to be done

a) Power grids

b) Impacts on power grid

c) CO2 (Carbon Monoxide) production from cars

d) Power grid study

e) Power grids need to be upgraded to be more efficient

f) Development into electrical infrastructure will need to be changed to be able to handle the extra demand.

g) The automobile is the primary contributor to greenhouse gases

h) The United States is currently 20 years ahead of the world in the release of emissions with cars, contributing 5% of the world’s total carbon emissions.

4. How to get there

a) Electric vehicle charging stations need to be metered and priced separately so charging can be monitored and incentives given to encourage recharging time frames

b) Development of electric vehicles and batteries is still being worked on

c) Many advancements need to be made to our infrastructure before a large percent of our vehicles could transition to electric power.

d) More improvements on the lithium ion battery.

e) Recycling batteries

5. Benefits and Challenges

a) The savings benefits of owning hybrids and electric vehicles (benefits)

b) Electric Vehicles would also decrease are dependency on foreign oil (Benefits)

c) Technological aspects of the hybrid vehicle and where auto makers see the industry in 20 years (Benefits)

d) Larger impacts and potential obstacles electric cars will being to the society (Challenge)

Cited: "Benefits of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles." EERE: Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center Program Home Page. Web. 02 Mar. 2011. . "Charging Station Implementation." EERE: Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center Program Home Page. Web. 02 Mar. 2011. . Anderson, Curtis D., and Judy Anderson. Electric and Hybrid Cars: a History. 2nd ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010. 22. Print. Anderson, Curtis D., and Judy Anderson. Electric and Hybrid Cars: a History. 2nd ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010. 107. Print. Anderson, Curtis D., and Judy Anderson. Electric and Hybrid Cars: a History. 2nd ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010. 109-115. Print. Anderson, Curtis D., and Judy Anderson. Electric and Hybrid Cars: a History. 2nd ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010. 118. Print. "Electric Vehicles." Fuel Economy. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. . Frank, R. (2010). Electric Vehicles: The Smart Grid’s Moving Target. Electronic Design, 58(8), 65-70. Web. 02 Mar. 2011. Retrieved from EBSCOhost Hybrid Transportation Sandalow, David. Plug-in Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington? Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2009. 3. Print. Sandalow, David. Plug-in Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington? Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2009. 236-37. Print. Tollefson, J.. (2008). Charging Up the Future. Nature, 456(7221), 436-440. Retrieved February 3, 2011, from Platinum Periodicals. (Document ID: 1606131231). Weeks, J. (2010, February 19). Modernizing the grid. CQ Researcher, 20, 145-168. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/