My friends got an electric car a year ago because they wanted to make their carbon footprint smaller. I wanted to learn more about how electric cars help the environment and I found an article by Energy.Gov that said: "EVs can also reduce the emissions that contribute to climate change and smog, improving public health and reducing ecological damage. Charging your EV on renewable energy such as solar or wind minimizes these emissions even more"(EV meaning electric vehicle). Inspired by my friends and my new knowledge about electric cars, I want to convince my family to switch to electric cars once the current lease is over. I can present them with the environmental benefits I learned from the article so that my argument is fact based. I know I can’t always control how much I drive, but I can control what I drive.

link to article quoted: https://www.energy.gov/eere/electricveh … l%20damage.

I agree that more people should definitely use electric cars. My large family uses three cars, and not one of them is electric- they're all gas-powered. In my middle school science class, we discussed what we all can do to reduce our carbon footprints. Many things came up, but some of the main ones were using solar panels and saving electricity, showering less and saving water, using electric cars, and finding alternate forms of transportation. My five-person family uses solar panels for basically our entire house, and I make an effort to reduce my water usage as much as I can. However, we haven't switched to electric cars. My family goes out of the house a lot, which was the main reason my carbon footprint was above average. An article on an energy website states that "Hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles can help improve fuel economy, lower fuel costs, and reduce emissions." I know that it would be really beneficial for my family to switch to electric cars, and although I can't drive I can help encourage people to switch and improve their carbon footprint.

Link to article: https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/electricity_benefits.html

I agree, using electric cars are a good way to lower your carbon footprint. An article by EDF states that "Over a year, just one electric car on the roads can save an average of 1.5 million grams of CO2.". This is equal to "four return flights from London to Barcelona". I believe that if more people used electric cars instead of petrol or diesel, which contribute a significant amount to your carbon footprint and pollution in the world, the amount of pollution in the atmosphere caused by cars would start to lower. However, the problem with Electric vehicles is their accessibility. I believe that in order for more people to lower their vehicle carbon footprint, these models of cars need to become more affordable and easier for lower class people to buy. An article from Reuters Events says that, "Insurance costs for EVs are on average 14% more expensive than for equivalent petrol or diesel". (EV being electric vehicles). In order for a mass amount of people to buy these electric cars and therefore lower their carbon footprint, the government and EV industry need to collaborate and create a plan. Another aspect of low accessibility is the chargers that are required to give EV's power/fuel. A major reason why someone might not buy an electric car is because their workplace does not offer charging station which are needed in order to drive the commute back. government support is needed for more of these charging ports to become available. Overall, I do believe that electric cars are making a difference in lowering the pollution inside of the atmosphere, but in order for any mass change to take place the government and the electric vehicle industry need to take steps to make these vehicles more accessible.
https://www.reutersevents.com/sustainab … accessible
https://www.edfenergy.com/for-home/ener … nvironment