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Luke Bailey

Professor Dean Leonard

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

better, and how much better they are.

Castronovo, Sam, et al. “Australian: New Report: Electric Cars Have 'Higher CO2 Emissions'.”

Watts Up With That?, 27 Aug. 2019, wattsupwiththat.com/2019/08/27/australian-new-

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

remains the best.

“Electric Vehicles & the Environment.” EnergySage, www.energysage.com/electric-

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,

because it emits 50-60% less CO2 than burning coal.

Ortar, Nathalie, and Marianne Ryghaug. “Should All Cars Be Electric by 2025? The Electric Car

Debate in Europe.” MDPI, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 28 Mar. 2019,

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

recalled their electric cars and refused to sell anymore.

“Reducing Pollution with Electric Vehicles.” Energy.gov,

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

less amounts of life cycle emissions than conventional cars.

Schnell, Jordan L., et al. “Electric Vehicle Adoption Improves Air Quality and Climate

Outlook.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 12 Apr. 2019,

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

combustion-dominant mix, combustion-only sources and enhanced emission-free

renewables, geographical locations, and seasons and time of day.

Whitehead, Jake. “Clean, Green Machines: the Truth about Electric Vehicle Emissions.” The

Conversation, 20 Sept. 2019, theconversation.com/clean-green-machines-the-truth-about-

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,

electric vehicles prove to improve emissions.