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
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.
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