Why go Electric?

In the last couple of years there have been many reasons to switch from a gasoline -powered engine, to an electric one. One reason to make the switch is to reduce the emissions from your vehicle. Also, electric cars are mechanically simpler and more durable than gasoline- powered cars. They do not exploit nonrenewable sources, unlike a gas- powered car.

Electric cars work by using a battery to store the energy to drive the car. Another important part is the battery charger. The battery charger is plugged in to an electrical outlet. The most popular type of battery to use in the electric cars is the lead-acid battery. Some new options for batteries include zinc-chloride, nickel metal hydride, and sodium-sulfur. The motor of an electric car converts the battery energy into kinetic energy.

There are many advantages in using electric motors in cars. One of the biggest ones is that controlling the substances that pollute the air from burning fossil fuels will be much easier to regulate at power plants, rather than the millions of cars on the highways. The electric car is considered much more efficient than gasoline-powered cars, because unlike the rather limited supply of gasoline there are many different ways that you can harvest electricity. Because these vehicles are still in the designing there are some drawbacks and disadvantages to the electric car. They are still impractical in today's times because the battery technology that we have limits the distance the vehicle can travel to less than 100 miles. They also take a few hours for the battery to fully charge. Electric cars also lack the acceleration and ability to drive up hills strongly; thus making not up to par with the modern day gasoline powered car.

Some other drawbacks to the electric car revolution are the cost it takes to design and create the technology for the batteries in the cars. Right now, only the real die-hard environmentalist will appreciate the electric cars of today because most of them will not come with air conditioning or power windows, doors, locks, etc. If the cars do come with any of these options you will have to use it sparingly because they waste the battery even more.

When you use an electric vehicle it saves you more money than with a gasoline-powered car because it has a lot less moving parts and it should be easier to maintain. Also, you donít have to spend money on things like oil changes and routine engine tune-ups. The average cost in Seattle to run and electric under normal conditions is about 200 to 250 dollars a year. To "fill up" the tank on electric vehicles is the equivalent to filling up a gasoline-powered car with 2/3 of a gallon of gas.

If you want to start helping the environment in a big way, seriously consider purchasing an electric vehicle in the near future. Electric vehicles are becoming more and more widespread throughout the country. The prices are starting to go down because the technology is now trickling down into the market where normal people can actually afford to buy an electric car.

By: Chris H.

http://www.sdge.com/EV/

http://home.earthlink.net/~odresher/evs/aboutevs.htm

http://www2.worldbook.com/

http://www.apve.net/main-e.html