Are Electric Cars a More Sustainable Method of Transport Than Diesel or Petrol Powered Cars? Essay Example
Are electric cars a more sustainable method of transport than diesel or petrol powered cars?
In this Case Study, I explored whether electric cars are as eco-friendly as they claim to be, providing a sustainable method of transport that could significantly reduce our carbon footprints if we all ditched the convectional vehicles, and changed to electric cars. I found many arguments both for and against electric cars.
Electric cars are powered by an electric motor which draws its power from an on-board battery pack which acts as an energy store for the car. Energy is measured in joules. A joule is a very small amount of energy so a domestic electricity metre measures the energy in kilowatt hours. Stoical Energy Transferred = Power x Time (Joules, J) (Watts, W) (Seconds, S) (Kilowatt hours kWh) (Kilowatts, kW) (Hours, H)
Source; GCSE Core Science revision guide (Information collected from GCSE Science revision guide 13:26hours)
Batteries are charged by simply connecting the vehicle to a mains power supply, and are usually need to be charged overnight (or 7-8 hours) for a full charge. Electricity is a secondary source of energy. This means that the electricity is generated elsewhere from another energy source, in the case of an electric car, the primary source (where the electricity first comes from) is from coal powered power stations.
Some people believe that coal powered stations, release the same if not more emission of harmful gas into the atmosphere. Conversely, others feel that they do not pollute, and save money, whilst reducing the Carbon Footprint, that would otherwise be increasing if a petrol or diesel powered vehicle was used.
Fors
Electric cars produce no CO₂ emissions when they are
In this Case Study, I explored whether electric cars are as eco-friendly as they claim to be, providing a sustainable method of transport that could significantly reduce our carbon footprints if we all ditched the convectional vehicles, and changed to electric cars. I found many arguments both for and against electric cars.
Electric cars are powered by an electric motor which draws its power from an on-board battery pack which acts as an energy store for the car. Energy is measured in joules. A joule is a very small amount of energy so a domestic electricity metre measures the energy in kilowatt hours. Stoical Energy Transferred = Power x Time (Joules, J) (Watts, W) (Seconds, S) (Kilowatt hours kWh) (Kilowatts, kW) (Hours, H)
Source; GCSE Core Science revision guide (Information collected from GCSE Science revision guide 13:26hours)
Batteries are charged by simply connecting the vehicle to a mains power supply, and are usually need to be charged overnight (or 7-8 hours) for a full charge. Electricity is a secondary source of energy. This means that the electricity is generated elsewhere from another energy source, in the case of an electric car, the primary source (where the electricity first comes from) is from coal powered power stations.
Some people believe that coal powered stations, release the same if not more emission of harmful gas into the atmosphere. Conversely, others feel that they do not pollute, and save money, whilst reducing the Carbon Footprint, that would otherwise be increasing if a petrol or diesel powered vehicle was used.
Fors
Electric cars produce no CO₂ emissions when they are