Why Don't People Switch To Electric Cars? || Green World Blog

Hi Everyone!

The previous post in this series really blew up, so thank you so much for your support on that one. In this article, I wanted to discuss why people are not switching to electric cars, and why the transport industry still has a way to go in terms of reaching net zero.

If you missed the first part of this post, then click here to read it!!

I talked in the post linked above, about why people should switch to electric cars, while also taking into account the potential issues with them, and coming to a conclusion about should everyone switch to electric cars. In this post, I wanted to delve further into the topic of why people don't switch to electric cars.

The cost is one of the main issues at the moment. To own an electric car, you need a reliable electricity supply, which is not readily available for everyone in the developing world, let alone the cost of buying the vehicle in the first place. The cost of the vehicle could eventually be lowered, and many countries have put schemes in place to make buying an electric or hybrid vehicle appealing, but this is definitely not enough. The cost of an electric car is simply too much for many families.

I think most people understand the value of electric vehicles with regards to the climate crisis, and certainly in the developed world, most of us travel reasonable distances on a daily basis. The sheer amount of transport used daily all around the world is a real issue. In fact, total transport activity is expected to more than double by 2050, compared to 2015. This huge increase in transport will counter-balance any work done to make it more sustainable, due to the volume of energy required. Even if you made half of the cars in the world electric, this massive increase in transport, would mean that the emissions in the transport sector would still rise.

As of 2015, 95% of transport was still dependent on oil, which is really the statistic that needs to change. This is where renewables and electric cars can work hand in hand, to make this statistic much, much lower. As I covered in my previous article, if you are charging your car with renewables, you really are drastically lowering your emissions. However, if you charge your electric car using fossil fuels, you may be reducing your emissions, but are really just releasing them in a different stage of the process.

In my opinion, another reason why people don't want to switch to electric cars is that electric cars are not quite as advanced as they need to be for everyone to be convinced. The inconvenience would be too much for some people, as mostly they will only travel 250-300 miles on a single charge. However, with a little planning, it is definitely possible to make this work for any journey. If you are travelling long distances, you are going to stop for at least half an hour, if not longer for lunch, and this time can easily be used to charge up. A bigger battery would mean a bigger environmental impact due to the materials needed to make them, so a smaller battery is in many ways no bad thing.

There is also this remaining prejudice that electric cars are still developing, which is true, but there are many electric cars now that will travel reasonably long distances, and I think many people just need to open their minds a little more.

The main problem arises when people do not have driveways on which to park their cars, as they may not have a charger nearby, or which may be very expensive, so charging the car becomes a real challenge. This is something that needs to be addressed on a bigger level, with initiatives and schemes put in place to support people in these situations, with options to invest in low-cost community charging points.

In conclusion, there are many reasons why people don't switch to electric cars, ranging from the cost to inconvenience, prejudice and accessibility of charging points. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post, and we will be back very soon.

Your Green World Blog Team💚

Sources:

I have used many articles in the process of creating this article, but here are some of the most important ones, including The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg.

https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/features/pros-and-cons-of-electric-cars
https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/tech/environmental-footprint-electric-cars
https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/why-electric-vehicles-arent-the-simple-solution-to-the-climate-crisis-3502343

The Climate Book - Created by Greta Thunberg (The Climate Bible!!) - our thoughts here

Images: All the images in this post are owned by a blog editor.

Comments

Ecosia

We all need to do something to save our planet: it is no use just leaving it to Greta Thunberg! She is very inspirational, yes, but she can only do so much. She isn't superhuman! The climate crisis is up to us; up to you. We all have to get stuck in. Research, learn, discover and most importantly: never give up! The world's animals need us. The world's trees need us and a simple way to do this is to switch to Ecosia. Ecosia is a search engine but it plants trees while you search the web. Okay, it doesn't have as many websites as google so you may want to have google as a backup but it plants trees: this is your opportunity to make a simple change. Just google Ecosia and search to plant trees. Make a difference. Image: This image is owned by Binyamin Mellish on pexels.com .

16.08.2020 Animal of the week: Elephant

Hello. On the 12th of August it was International Elephant Day, so we decided that this week's post should be about elephants. Elephants are the largest living land mammals. There are three types of elephant; the African bush elephant; the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant. African elephants have larger ears, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears. Elephants use their trunks to breath, bring food and drink to their mouths and to grasp objects. Elephants' legs are like pillars. They carry the Elephant's massive weight. African bush elephants weigh 6000kg, Asian elephants weigh 4000kg and African forest elephants weigh 2700kg. Basically, they are very heavy.Elephants eat grasses, small plants, bushes, fruit, twigs, tree bark, and roots. Elephants can live up to 70 years old in the wild. They communicate by sight, touch and smell. Sadly, these wonderful mammals are in danger. African elephants are listed as vulne...

The life of ... an alcon blue butterfly

Hi everyone, Today we are going to be looking into the life of an alcon blue butterfly (Phengaris alcon). After mating, the females lay their eggs on marsh gentian, a blue-coloured wildflower. The eggs can only be laid on these flowers, as this is what the newly hatched caterpillars will eat. Although in some alp regions, they can also be found on willow gentians, a close relative of the marsh gentian. Once the caterpillars have hatched from the eggs, their main predator and danger are the ants that swarm below. But high on their plant homes, the caterpillars are safe. However, this isn't where the alcon blue caterpillars are going to stay forever. Eventually, they drop down to the ground using silk strings. With no protection, they are soon dragged off by the ants. The most amazing part is, the alcon blue caterpillars give off the same scent and chemicals as the ant larvae. So the ants take the caterpillars back to their brood chamber, wher...

19.07.2020: Animal of the week: Honey Bees

Hi everyone, This week's animal is the honey bee. Enjoy! General Information An average honeybee hive is made up of one queen, hundreds of male drones and thousands of female workers. If the queen bee dies then a new queen is created. The workers select a young larva and feed it with a special food called ‘royal jelly’. The ‘royal jelly’ makes the larva grow into a fertile queen. Queens live for several years but the workers only live for five or six weeks. An average worker will make a twelfth of a tee spoon of honey during her entire life. Drones are turned out of the hive and left to die in Autumn. In the summer months, the queen bee is very busy, she can lay up to 2500 eggs in a single day. How they affect the world around them Honey bees are very important for flowers, fruit and vegetables. This comes from the fact that they are pollinators. They help the plants by transferring pollen between male and female parts, meaning the plants can g...

10 Animals on the Edge of Extinction No. 10- The Javan Rhino

The Javan rhino is listed as the 1st animal on WWF’s list of the 10 world’s most endangered animals, and I for my part, had never heard of it! If you hadn’t either, we’re changing that now. A bit about the rhino’s lifestyle The Javan rhinos are now exclusively found on the island of Java in Indonesia, but were once found in vast regions of northeast india and Southeast Asia. They have a dark grey colour which looks almost black when wet, and their (often pink) skin folds look a bit like plated armor. Both males and females have lower incisors which resemble tusks that they use to fight. Males have one relatively short horn of about 25 cm (10 inches). Javan Rhinos live in tropical forests, marshy areas and in the thick bush. They are mainly browsers and eat over 100 plants species they find in the forest, weigh between 900 and 2300 kg (1984-5071 pounds) and are between 3 and 3.2 meters (10- 10.5 feet) long. How endangered are we talking? Javan rhinos are the most ...

Maldives - the direct impacts of climate change

Welcome back, Today we’re looking at the direct impacts of the climate crisis . The main reason why people don’t believe in climate change is that they can’t see it with their own eyes. So, we’re going to have a look at the Maldives where the effects of climate change become more obvious with every passing year. Maldives The full name of the Maldives is The Republic of the Maldives. It is an independent country made up of about 1 200 islands in the North Indian Ocean. The northernmost island is situated 370 miles away from the mainland (India). The islands are actually the tips of an ancient volcanic mountain range that is now almost completely submerged. In fact, the highest point is 1.8m-2.4m above sea level with the average elevation being 1m above sea level. The islands have a large tourism industry, due to the stunning nature found on and around the islands. 500 000 - 1 500 000 tourists visit the islands each year. This is mainly 'nature to...

Announcement: Factfile

This image is owned by a blog editor.

August 2021 Factfile - some news, animals and a plant

Welcome to our August factfile, News Bad news :( Fires in and around Athens Athens has been under siege this month, but not by any army. The forests all around the capital and in other parts of Greece and Turkey have gone up in flames. Houses have been destroyed and thousands have been evacuated. The reason is, of course, climate change . “It’s been crazy over here. Between the extreme heat and the wildfires, it feels apocalyptic,” Eleni Myrivili wrote in an email on Thursday as the army was deployed to assist firefighters. “Ash is raining down on us here in Athens.” England's lake district in peril Lake District, a popular holiday resort in the north of England, is now eroding faster as a result of climate change and an increased amount of walkers due to the pandemic. Paths that were once two meters wide are now at least 12 meters wide on some walks. Also visitors tend to walk off the path, endangering local wildlife. With...

Ways to help make your household environmentally friendly

We have told you a bit about the problems that the environment is facing in previous posts but we haven’t told you how to help the environment around the house. You don’t even need a garden to make a difference! Ways to help stop global warming Tip 1: Turn the lights off when you leave a room. Tip 2: Walk or cycle on short journeys. Tip 3: Don’t have the windows open and the heaters on at the same time. Tip 4: Never leave your engine running Tip 5: If you can, buy an electric car as these produce less Co2. Ways to help stop plastic pollution Tip 1: Buy a water bottle. It seems simple but every year the UK uses an estimated 13 billion plastic bottles. Tip 2: Use a bar of soap and a bar of shampoo instead of shower gel and bottled shampoo. Some say soap can dry your skin out but if you do your research you can find plastic-free high-quality soap, perhaps at a price but it depends on where you get it from. Tip 3: Make...

Animals 26-30 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hello, Welcome back. We're very sorry for missing last week's animals. We've all had a busy time with school work! 26. Blue glaucus Also known as the blue dragon, the blue glaucus is a type of sea slug. They are small, rarely growing longer than 3cm long. Their favourite food is probably the most bizarre thing about them, Portuguese man o' war. Now, for those of you who don't already know, the Portuguese man o' war is one of the most dangerous jellyfish in the world! Different sites have different opinions, but almost all agree that blue glaucus do not hunt the Portuguese man o' war, instead they feed on dead ones or nibble away at living one! But that's still rather impressive. 27. Shoebill Shoebills are very patient and able to stay still for hours. That's how they hunt. When a lungfish comes up for air, they often don't notice the shoebill standing there until it's too late. Shoebill...

Green World

Search This Blog