Centre Number: PK243

Candidate Name: Faizan Shoaib

Candidate Number:

Topic: Sustainable Living

Research Question: “Are electric vehicles really safer and environmentally friendlier than other types of vehicles in the 21st century?”

Word Count: 1999

Electric Vehicles

What are electric vehicles?

An EV (Electric Vehicle) is a type of vehicle that uses an electric motor instead of engines and uses no petrol or diesel. There are two types of EV’s, one which completely runs on electric power and the other plug-in hybrid electric vehicle which has both electric motors and an engine which creates energy by burning petrol inside the engine. People often see EV’s as environmentally friendlier as they release less or no carbon emissions (the release of carbon dioxide into the air), but are they actually good for the environment?

Local and Global Perspectives on Electric vehicles:

Pakistan approved a policy in 2019,NEVP, in which the government had a goal to increase the usage of EV’s to 30% by 2030, showing how interested Pakistan is and how the country wants to eliminate pollution by adopting the use of EV’s. (1) Countries like China are promoting EV’s by subsidising them for public transport. The UN is also trying to promote the use of EV’s, they have started a programme (United Nations Environment Programme) in which they are supporting low income countries to shift from gas cars to electric vehicles.(2)

Advantages of Electric Vehicles:

use of EV’s would make the air more cleaner as they are environmentally friendly and don't pollute the air. Peugeot says that EV’s reduce less carbon emissions because they don’t use an engine so there is no burning of petrol making the sky clear and easy for people to breathe, improving the air quality. (3)

Peugeot suggests that now EV’s can outperform petrol powered cars as EV’s now have better acceleration and torque. This is because they don’t need manual transmission, this means that the power will go straight to the tyres. EV’s have a better torque meaning that when you accelerate the pedal EV’s provide maximum torque whereas gas cars have turbo lag, gas cars require time to build torque because the power is transferred through the transmission to the wheels. (4)

Carwow says that EV’s tend to have lower fuel costs as they don't require petrol and you have to charge the vehicle. EV’s have lower fuel costs because the cost of electricity per mile is lower than the cost of petrol, also EVs don't require oil changes. This means that owners do not have to spend too much money on their cars but can spend more on other goods and services. (5)

Disadvantages of Electric Vehicles:

The biggest threat of having an EV is Charging Infrastructure worries. There aren’t enough charging stations. The charging infrastructure is the availability of facilities used to recharge an electric vehicle. Charging infrastructure is mostly limited in areas because of its high cost, not only the building cost but its maintenance cost as well. Less charging stations in areas or highways will create range anxiety in people meaning people will worry about their cars getting stopped on highways. (6)

EV’s are more expensive than gas cars. This is because EV’s use advanced technology like autopilot. Moreover the cost of EV batteries are too high meaning if an owner wants to replace the battery he will have to spend a lot of money. This will have a huge impact on its sale because many people can’t afford it and this will slow down the adoption of it. (7)

Moreover, EV’s use lithium ion batteries. Workers have to extract the components of these batteries. The process of this extraction creates pollution as machines will be used. Also these batteries are made with materials that are expensive and are flammable. (8)

Comparison of Advantages:

“EV’s don’t pollute the air” is the most important among all as it makes the sky clear and makes it easy for people who have lung issues to breathe. Using EV’s will save people’s lives because many people die due to pollution. For example last year in Pakistan there were 128,000 deaths because of air pollution and gas cars play a crucial role in spreading pollution. Adopting the use of EV’s would make the atmosphere better.

“EV’s outperform gas cars” isn’t that important because they are just better than gas cars but are also expensive. For example a mid-range EV costs $58,000 which is very high compared to other mid range gas cars.

“EV’s tend to have lower fuel costs” is also important as it saves money. This is because electricity is cheaper than petrol and diesel. For example in Pakistan 1 litre petrol costs almost 280 PKR and per unit electricity is 56 PKR making it easy for people to recharge their vehicle.

“Charging infrastructure worries” is also a threat as in many areas or highways there aren’t enough charging stations and many EV’s don't do more than 300 miles which will create anxiety in drivers and will make them think twice before

buying an EV. 300 miles are enough but on highways there aren’t enough stations build so this will create range anxiety in people and will make them think twice before buying an EV. “EV’s are more expensive than gas cars” is also a threat to some extent but it can be solved by lowering the maintenance cost. The price of EV depends on the currency of the country as well as the tax imposed on it, in countries like Pakistan the tax imposed on the car is actually more than the price of the car itself.

Solutions for Disadvantages:

These disadvantages can be very harmful on some occasions. For example, there aren’t enough charging stations on highways which creates anxiety in drivers and cars will stop on highways. There will be a lot of traffic and accidents may occur as well.

1) Countries should invest in building charging stations. Individuals can also invest in order to achieve this goal. Countries should increase the number and quality of charging stations. Governments should provide capital, labour and subsidies to businesses who are building charging stations. Most of the European countries like France, UK, Netherlands, and many more are trying to increase the number of charging stations. Electric cars in the EU increased by 58% (9). However this cannot be done by every country as this can be very expensive for countries like Pakistan which is already in debt. Individuals can invest and provide capital to address this issue.

2) The cost of EV’s can be reduced as well in several ways. Companies who produce EV’s should lower their maintenance costs. Companies should lower their battery costs by research and development. Moreover, the government should provide subsidies to local companies who manufacture EVs. The government can step in and cover the costs of production. Also the biggest reason for the high prices of EVs are the tax imposed on them. This depends on the country’s currency, the weaker it is, more tax would be imposed on the car, the stronger it is no tax would be imposed. Countries can provide research, labour and capital to EV companies and can reduce the tax imposed on EV’s by providing tax incentives, reducing the sales tax and making it more attractive and cheaper. However, I think

not every country would be able to do this as countries whose economy is not strong or are facing economic crisis and which are already in debt as they wouldn't have enough capital to provide subsidies.

3) The threat of pollution by extraction of lithium ion batteries’ materials can be finished if companies and governments do research on this. This will help them develop new batteries and advance new materials. Moreover, this threat can be finished by providing a new substitute. For example, companies can replace lithium ion batteries with solid state batteries. Solid state batteries use solid electrodes instead of the liquid in lithium batteries. This will be better as they provide higher energy density.

Evaluation of Sources

I think the websites I used are well-known and trustworthy. I tried my best to take factual information from trustworthy sources which were up to date. I used sources like UN, carwow, Express Tribune and many more reliable sources. All these websites are known for their reliability and factual information. The UN is a really well known organisation and hence is a very reliable source. The UNEP is a programme under progress and a group of people are working on it.

Moreover I used the famous car company’s website Peugeot. Peugeot’s website is really reliable and Peugeot itself is very famous and is known for its luxurious cars. However, I think that Peugeot’s statement is biased or has a vested interest as they may be promoting themselves and persuading people to buy their vehicles.

Furthermore I used carwow. It is a very well known website, It is known for its buying and selling of vehicles. Carwow is a reliable website and provides factual information and has a really positive review from its customers. The author of the website I used was Will Davis who is an experienced journalist. This source was up to date and was published recently on December 16, 2023. But I think that carwow may be attracting customers to use their website and buy cars from them, promoting themselves to earn more money.

I also used the Euronews website which provides information mostly about Europe and provides unbiased information and factual information. The author of the article I used was Servet Yanatma and this article was published on 18 September, 2023 hence is up to date. Servet Yanatma is a researcher and an experienced journalist. He has done BA and MA from the Bogazici University in Istanbul. He also completed his PhD and has won a title of the International News Agencies. I don’t think this guy is biassed on the article he wrote as he has mostly provided facts of EV’s in europe.

Personal Perspective:

In conclusion, electric vehicles play a crucial role in ending the threat of pollution as they don’t release carbon emissions and use an electric motor instead. EV’s are better for the environment and adopting the use of EV’s will lead to a sustainable future.

The advantages of EV’s given above are really beneficial for the environment like EV’s don't pollute the air as they use an electric motor instead of an engine, this would be good for the air as no carbon dioxide will be released but a threat to this is that EV’s use battery to charge themselves and their batteries are made from lithium which requires extraction and this further creates more pollution. This means if EV’s don't “release” carbon dioxide, their “production” does cause pollution.

Moreover, advantages like EV’s now outperform gas cars will only be beneficial to people who are rich or who can afford an EV. This is because EV’s are expensive to buy. Many people can’t afford an EV and will buy a cheaper gas car instead.

Furthermore, another advantage such as EV’s having lower fuel costs is beneficial to EV owners as they would spend less money to recharge their car.

However, the threat to this is that there aren’t enough charging stations built so this will make people charge their cars at home, increasing the electricity bill imposed on the household.

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