Electric Car Research Paper

Electric Cars

By Abigail

A lot of people think electric cars are modern innovations. However, the first electric car was made in 1842! There were many prototypes before manufacturers got it right though. People have realized that pollution is harming the environment. They have looked for alternative fuels. Electric cars seemed to be the best solution. Not many people would buy electric cars because electric cars couldn’t go as far as gas cars.

In the 1800’s and 1900’s people wanted to have greater mobility out of the city. People wanted electric cars because you didn’t have to crank them to start like you did with steam powered cars. And they weren’t noisy and smelly like gas cars. But, gas cars were still slightly more popular because of the distance they could go. Another reason gas cars were more popular was they weren’t as expensive as electric cars.

In the 1970’s electric cars were more popular because of the sudden shortage of gas. But, when the supply of gas was replenished, people went back to gas cars. What no-one realized was the amount of pollution was slowly heating up the Earth. This is called Global Warming or The Greenhouse Effect. Now for a test; don’t worry it’s easy. One question. Here’s a riddle: What can fit in a teacup but move something one thousand pounds one thousand meters? Here are your choices:

1. Oil

2. Water

3. Wheels

4. Coffee

Did you guess A? If you did, good job! When oil is turned into gasoline, it powers a car.

Now I bet your wondering how the oil gets there in the first place. Here is how fossil fuels are made. 1. Carbon is absorbed by a plant. 2. The plant dies, but the carbon stays inside the plant. 3. The plant is buried. 4. Over time the plant (being under pressure) turns into a fossil fuel. 5. We then dig it up and turn it into gas. When you burn fossil fuels, it releases carbon into the atmosphere. Electric cars don’t produce carbon, so theoretically if everyone drove electric cars there will be no pollution. In the 1970’s a lot electric car companies were forced out of business. Companies that produced gas were the ones who shut down electric car companies. They didn’t want to get rid of gas cars or else people would lose their jobs working at gas companies. Some people were happy to get rid of electric cars, but some wanted the electric car back.

Now fast forward to the year 2016. There are a lot of new electric cars including Tesla, Prius, and Nissan Leaf. Tesla has a tablet in the dashboard that tells you where all of the charging stations are. The Tesla usually costs $72,000, but the new Tesla Model 3 costs $35,000. A Leaf goes 170 miles on one charge on a 30 KWH battery. 90% of the time a Leaf meets the need of a typical driver. It has a heated steering wheel!!! You can fit five people in a Leaf. A leaf can cost from $15,000 to $30,000; much cheaper than a Tesla.

Electric cars compared from past to present are a lot cheaper now. In the 1800’s and 1900’s an electric car would cost at least $50,000! Now they usually cost around $30,000. For electric cars to become more popular people must realize what’s happening to the environment. If people keep driving gas cars there might be too much pollution to function. So in conclusion, the choice is yours; gas or electric.

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