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Luke Bailey
English 1201
27 October 2019
Annotated Bibliography
My goal for the essay is to reveal the truth behind whether electric cars really are better
for the environment or not. With the growing trend of people buying electric cars thinking they
are better for the environment, I want to know if they actually are. There is a lot of research
saying both one way or the other, but I want to know the truth. I want to know why they are
Castronovo, Sam, et al. “Australian: New Report: Electric Cars Have 'Higher CO2 Emissions'.”
report-electric-cars-have-higher-co2-emissions/.
This article starts with a nice graph showing how much carbon is emitted to run a green
vehicle by state, and how much the average for each vehicle type is. Then it goes on to talk
about how immediate benefits from electric vehicle in Australia is not guaranteed. Electric
vehicles in Victoria have high CO2 outputs compared to diesel, while in NSW, Victoria,
ACT, and Queensland, petrol vehicles put out less CO2 then electric vehicles, while hybrid
vehicles/advantages-of-evs/evs-environmental-impact/.
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When an electric vehicle is running on electricity, it will put out no tailpipe emission.
Based on that information, they are more eco-friendly than conventional cars. But you have
to think about the “wheel-to-wheel” emissions, meaning the pollution caused to power that
car to get be able to drive it. The electric car will output about half as much CO2 as a
conventional car. Natural gas is the most common form of electricity in the United States,
Ortar, Nathalie, and Marianne Ryghaug. “Should All Cars Be Electric by 2025? The Electric Car
www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/7/1868.
This article talks about the pros and cons with the debate for electric cars, and whether or
not it will work. People are thinking that with the growing market for electric cars, we
might not be able to keep up with the demand for electricity to power all the cars. Although
it may be the most environmentally safe option, we don’t have the technology to be able to
back the growing number of electric vehicles on the road. They are also debating whether
in the long run it will be environmentally safer than a conventional car. For each car to
work, there is battery made and put inside. Producing this battery emits almost as much
CO2 as a conventional car emits to drive it. Also, you have to think about when a car need
a new battery, then it will need to be recycled and that will emit even more CO2.
Paine, Chris, et al. Who Killed the Electric Car? Who Killed the Electric Car?, 2006.
In the late 1980’s, GM released its first electric car. This vehicle would have zero
emission and could run for about 100 miles on a charge. It was debated whether or not it
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was actually more environmentally safer, because of the fossil fuels being burned to power
the cars. In 1990, the state of California passed a law that required all auto makers to offer
a car that had zero emission, which was later revoked in 2003. Then all the automakers
www.energy.gov/eere/electricvehicles/reducing-pollution-electric-vehicles.
There are two different types of vehicle emissions, direct and life cycle. Direct emissions
would be through tailpipes and burning fuel in a car. These will cause pollution and other
harmful things for humans. All electric vehicles produce zero direct emissions, while
hybrids produce some, and conventional cars produce the most. Life cycle emissions
include everything from when the car was started in manufacturing, till it is done and being
recycled. This can also produce harmful pollutions. Though, electric vehicles still produce
Schnell, Jordan L., et al. “Electric Vehicle Adoption Improves Air Quality and Climate
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190412122912.htm.
The Northwestern University study quantified the differences in air pollution from
electric cars and conventional cars. It found that electric vehicles have a net positive impact
on the environment. With the debate of how to help climate change, this might be one of
the first steps for change. Electric vehicle adoption reduces net carbon emissions and has
added benefits of reducing air pollution. For this study, they used potential electric vehicle
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adoption rates, generation of electric vehicle power supply, including our current
Whitehead, Jake. “Clean, Green Machines: the Truth about Electric Vehicle Emissions.” The
electric-vehicle-emissions-122619.
Electric vehicles use a battery, so they have no exhaust. Most of their pollution comes
from the producing and recycling of the car. They examined the emissions produced by an
electric car versus a conventional car over the cars lifecycle, and found that a petrol powered car
produced 355 grams of CO2, and the electric car produced 213 grams of CO2. The size of the car
doesn’t matter either, any size will still show signs of improvement on the emission of pollution.
Using real world estimates, they have found that it doesn’t matter where in Australia you go,