Ok. So it's 2018. literally, everyone knows that gas-powered cars, buses, and other methods of transportation are harmful to the environment and are a big reason why climate change is happening. If you didn't know... have you been living under a rock? Why is it that only some people have electric cars and not everyone. Don't you think there should be a law banning fuel powered automobiles?It seems to me, that everyone knows the effects of pollution but no one really cares. I think the world should wake up and cut off the mass production of modes of transportation powered by gas and start making it mandatory to have electric cars. Besides, electric cars are not only awesome for the environment but quieter and let's face it, even have better designs honestly. This is just what I think, but feel free to debate my opinion or agree with me.

There are a few problems with only electric cars. Not only would it take a huge amount of time to implement this policy but it would be extremely difficult to change production lines in car factories so suddenly. They would have to change programming for any robots, sign new contracts for the parts needed, possibly expand the factory and numerous other minor and major adjustments to other aspects, including dealerships across the country. Car dealerships would be closed for long periods of time while they switch out and scrap vehicles en masse, causing huge amounts of wasted material. Not only that but it's not financially stable, electric cars have a huge price tag and would make it so less and less people have cars and slowly lose communication. There is also the fact that we would be forced to cut off numerous trade routes with other countries which would most definitely anger them. You also have to think about the smog created by the new factories or converted ones made specifically for these electric engines and giant batteries which cost us dearly in rare resources . If we were to make the switch, it would have to be in years when it wouldn't be as costly to consumer and creator. If anything, a switch to Hybrid cars is a little more viable. A nation-wide switch would be too costly for companies, and in a capitalist society, that is a HUGE problem. I hope you take my side into your decisions for all.

Coming from someone who's mom drives an electric car, I personally don't think electric cars are "ready" to some extent for everyone to be using them.  First of all, we can only generate so much electricity to charge these cars.  Secondly, my mom's car has a range of just 82 miles (91 including the emergency reserve), meaning she burns through over half of her battery just from commuting back and forth to work.  Finally, while electric cars are generally much more fuel efficient than gas-powered cars, they do still require an energy source, and as of now, we don't have the energy sources to power the 1.105 billion people who currently use an automotive vehicle.

I think one of the main factors in electric car usage is price. Many eco-friendly cars or vehicles that use electricity as fuel are much more costly than a used cheap gasoline powered stick-shift. Most people don't have the money for a Tesla or a Prius even. When given the option to choose a nice, expensive electric car over a decent priced, gas vehicle, most would choose the latter option. Another contributor is transitions. For years and years the world has used gas-powered cars and has finally gotten used to them. We as humans have gotten comfortable with using up resources and wasting fuels on ourselves, so the switch over to electric would take an extremely long time. Also, there is always the factor that electric could short out or start a fire, as mechanics and scientists still have yet to perfect the model. Cars are a huge aid in transportation in the world today, and we rely on them heavily to get from point A to B. With all these factors in hand and still many other things that have the capability of going wrong, the human race is not ready for simply "switchin g" to electric cars. It would be too costly, influential, and risky. The next gen of cars simply need to be coated one layer by layer onto us, not dumped immediately like spilled paint.

One of the main reasons electric cars are not being implemented into society as much as we'd all like is because of the cost.  This is the scenario with most things in our society involved bettering our environment.  Like cars, many alternate and eco-friendly forms of electricity are not used because they are just too costly.  Another reason why electric cars are not used a lot is because they can only travel so far compared to gas-fueled cars that can travel long distances without having to refill their tanks.

Electric cars are expensive. The batteries alone are very expensive and basically nobody can afford that. I agree that the idea of an electric car is good but they're actually not very reliable and most people aren't willing to spend more money on something that isn't very powerful or stable. They're not very good even though they are more eco friendly

Electric cars are always a better alternative, but they still produce Green House Gases, a factory is producing that battery and car which uses carbon. And they are much more expensive.

Because, if you do that, you will need every single car companies and human being on the planet Earth to use and create electric cars. It may take many years and I doubt everyone does that. Also it's more expensive to have one.

Electric cars also do not have the best range and they take a long time to recharge. Also, not everybody can afford them, especially people in poor countries

Although it would be nice if everyone drove an electric car, there is a little more to it than that.  For one thing electric cars are very expensive.  Plus if there was even a way to make a world wide law where everyone could only drive electric cars, then people would be forced out of their cars.  Then, what would people do with a car that they can't get any money off of it so that they could  put it towards the electric car because nobody would want the car.  To conclude, we have a long way to go until all average cars are band.

Another alternative is too make gas prices higher?

that would cause many people to lose money, not get electric cars.

Not every body cant have an electric car because e-cars don't go as last as long as a car that uses gas. Electric cars are much better but what if you have a job where you have to drive a heavy load behind your car, a e-car cant do that, but a gas car can. An electric car takes at least 4-5 hours to charge fully and what if you are on a road trip. When you have a gas car and you run out of fuel it only takes about 5 minutes to fuel up your car and keep going. Think about how long it would take you to get to your destination if you had to stop every ones and a while. I'll give you hint it would take you along time.

Brandon is correct, but what about hybrid cars?

A 2018 study from the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute found that electric vehicles cost less than half as much to operate as gas-powered cars. The average cost to operate an electric vehicle in the United States is $485 per year, while the average for a gasoline-powered vehicle is $1,117. This will contradict some other people's arguments in previous posts. Another argument AGAINST electric cars is that the trash generated by trading gas cars for electric cars is immense. The number of cars in the world right now is at 1.15 billion. The average weight of cars is around 4000 pounds. 1,150,000,000 multiplied by 4000 is 4,600,000,000,000 pounds. That is the amount of trash that will be generated by trading out gas cars for electric ones. So this is a  unsteady stance by me, but I am just making two separate points on this ongoing argument.

I totally agree! Electric cars will in the end save people and the world money. First without the use of gas you can ultimately save money if you take good care of the car.  Also the cost of global warming will be much higher than the cost of a car if we do not covert soon. This is a great topic and I'm glad to share this with you.

While I believe that electric cars could help lesson humans' carbon footprint, not everybody has access to them. Electric cars are also limited in the distance they can go. My family has a Nissan leaf, and because of its battery life we are unable to take it on long car rides and road trips. It is important to charge electric cars responsibly. My family tries not to charge our leaf overnight because we don't want to waste energy. It only takes a few hours to charge, but leaving it plugged in over night would be a large source of wasted energy. It is also important to think about where the energy comes from that we use to charge electric cars. Overall I think there are pros and cons to electric cars. They would help to lessen humans' impact on the planet and with technology advancing everyday we can work to solve the problems we see in them.

I also agree. Electric cars should become more available to more people. I also think that scientists should find ways to make a electric car battery last longer. One other problem is charging stations. When you are going on long road trips, where do you find charging stations? There are not enough charging stations in many places to support electric cars. This is what repelled my family from buying an electric car.

Although electric cars by themselves help the environment, the way they are produced and what electricity is used to charge them can often times not contribute to lowering down CO2 emissions. Like all things, creating an electric car requires a lot of rare metals that come out of mines and are processed in less than green ways to produce things. This fact goes for solar panels to.
   If we were to not factor in CO2 emission from the electric car, there were still be CO2 emission involved in creating  the energy used to power the car, unless your local power plant is green. This includes wind turbines, and solar panels, however most power plants produce carbon dioxide.

While I agree that greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline-fueled vehicles contribute greatly to global warming, the solution isn't as simple as everyone using electric cars. While they are cleaner up front in terms of emissions, dead batteries still have to go somewhere. Only a small fraction of materials in the batteries can be recycled, so the rest ends up in landfills. These batteries can leak toxic chemicals into the soil, which is harmful to the local wildlife and plant life, as well as the environment. A study conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists concluded that "even in areas with high-pollution power plants, one mile of driving in a plug-in EV is only marginally worse than one mile of driving a very fuel-efficient gas-burning car". I still think that electric vehicles are the way of the future, but the technology still has a long way to go.

Many people choose to buy a gas-powered car rather than an electric car for many reasons. Some people, if commuting very far to work or traveling, are afraid of the battery dying in the middle of their commute. Although they are becoming more common, charging stations are needed to be more accessible to people just like gas stations are now. Also, the electricity that is used to power the cars needs to be created somewhere. Most likely, the electricity is not coming from a reusable or sustainable source. I realize that buying and driving electric cars may seem like a simple way to solve our problem but our world relies on gas-powered cars as a way to get around and even after converting to an electric car, the sustainability may just be in the owner's head.

I agree with you Caitlin, the source of the electricity is key!  However, in the future, it makes sense for us to electrify everything (cooking, heating, driving, etc), and then we just have to green the electricity sources.  That's a simpler solution, isn't it?

Jason,
Yes, to fully electrify everything would be a simpler solution. But you have to remember that we fully rely on gas-powered things, not only cars. To fully convert to using only electric power will take a long time and a lot of effort not only from people who want to change now but from others who may not care or believe in change. Yes, I do agree with you, but the next question is how are we supposed to do this?

I do agree but there are still problems with electric cars. Their battery, for example, only last 100,000 miles, according to Union of Concerned Scientist. There are still many problems with the electric car battery, especially with the manufacturing and disposal of the battery.  A battery consists of many materials including lithium, cobalt, nickel and more. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, 60% of the global cobalt supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has had issues with human rights. While some of the materials in the batteries are recyclable they require time and money and even then are hard to recycle and pollute in the process. After it cannot be used anymore, some get recycled, get shipped to a foreign country like Mexico, or get disposed of improperly, therefore hurting the environment and undoing all the years of zero emission. Also for some people, electric cars are not an option because they have to drive long distances and electric cars limit the number of miles people can drive between charges. But in the future with more t echnological advances I think scientist will be able to expand the number of miles driven between charges therefore allowing more people to have electric cars as an option. But until then I think a good alternative is for people to have one gas and one electric, like my family!!