Are Electric Cars Really Any Better Than Petrol Powered Cars?

Cars that use internal combustion engines and petrol have been the norm for the past few decades. The main issue with these types of vehicles is the potential harm that they cause to the environment, due to their gas emissions and damage to the ozone layer.

Companies like Tesla, now Ford, and Toyota have been pioneering the future of road cars through the introduction of electric vehicles. These vehicles use electrical charging batteries to power their movement and wheel rotations.

Many believe that alongside the renewed environmental impact, these cars may also be more powerful, and offer a smoother ride than the conventional petrol-powered vehicle. But is that true? And is it really worth it to invest your money into an electric vehicle? Let us find out.

Pollution

Let’s first compare the two types of vehicles in the category of pollution/environmental impact, seeing as that was the main reason that electric cars were invented in the first place.

Are electric cars really any better for the environment than conventional petrol-powered vehicles?

Cars with internal combustion engines release what is known as CO2 emissions, which have been scientifically proven to be extremely harmful to our world and in particular to the health of the ozone layer. In fact, it has been shown that CO2 emissions account for around 20% of the total emissions around the planet. Of course, however, there are many different factors that contribute to the overall CO2 count on the planet, not only the emissions from our vehicles, even though they do undoubtedly play a significant role, as many people around the world drive petrol-powered vehicles.

EVs undoubtedly produce less of a carbon footprint while driving, as they don’t emit gasses into the air because they contain no internal combustion engine and don’t use conventional fossil fuels to power their movement. However, almost any electric vehicle on the planet is powered by a lithium-ion battery, which can only be created and built through materials found through extensive mining processes.

Elon Musk, the founder of the innovative electric vehicle company known as Tesla, owns a few lithium mines in order to gather the materials necessary to power his vehicles. These mining processes are extremely harmful to our soils and environment, in terms of the natural resources that are destroyed during the mining process. It is difficult to compare the impact of mining versus the impact of CO2 emissions. For now, it is probably okay to assume that on the whole, electric vehicles are less harmful to the environment than conventional gas-powered cars.

Pricing

Next up, it is important to discern which of the two competing vehicles is more expensive to purchase and drive over a sustained period of time. In general, electric vehicles, like a Tesla for example, is far more expensive than your standard gas-powered vehicle. This is probably because of the cost it currently takes to produce lithium batters, and because of the fact that the tech being used in electric vehicles is far newer than the technology used in the standard road car. So, if you’re looking to purchase an electric vehicle you’re going to need a lot of capital upfront, but after that, it is pretty much smooth sailing.

The problem with buying a petrol car in the current day is the fact that petrol prices are unpredictable and are generally on a negative trend for the consumer, as they always seem to be rising.

The long-term cost involved in owning a petrol-powered car is the fact that you’re always going to be spending money in order to keep the car moving on the road. This means that you may have to use some of your online bingo NZ winnings to stay moving.

Once you have an electric vehicle, you can charge it at home overnight, and drive for a long-range – normally around 300 – 500 miles. So, there are negatives involved in the pricing for both electric and gas-powered cars, but in terms of an investment for the future, an electric vehicle might be the way to go.

Performance

Now this category is the hardest to compare and discern which of the two competitors is the best at because this will change depending on the model and year of the car in question. But if we’re talking about a standard petrol-powered road car versus the standard, for example, Tesla, there is really no comparison.

A standard floor model Tesla car is known to be one of the most powerful, and fastest cars on the market right now, especially in comparison to a standard gas-emitting vehicle. This is because the new driving tech in most electric cars is years ahead of the technology used in standard road cars, which is rather dated. Electric cars are the clear winner in the category of performance.