The Case for Quickly Phasing Out the use of Fossil Fuels: According to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, humans are responsible for most global heating, most of which is caused by burning fossil fuels. Climate change is causing thousands of premature deaths annually from heat storms, firestorms, flooding, and the like. And impacts will continue to become more severe unless we make a major shift to clean energy sources.
Best Transportation Practices: When possible, choose ‘active transportation’ (walking, biking, etc), public transit, and/or choose “green” taxi/ride hailing vehicles. AAA says that car ownership costs on average over $1,200/month! If one can rely on some or all of the above choices instead of owning a car, that would be a big plus for the environment.
Best Automobile Energy Source: Electricity. In CA, even the ‘dirtiest’ electricity is much cleaner to use than liquid fossil fuels (I.e. gasoline, diesel). Not only does burning these fuels emit toxic air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, but the entire fuel cycle - extraction / transport / refining - puts a large strain on the environment.
For those who choose to own their own automobile, below are car propulsion types that will result in burning less, or no, fossil fuels:
Mild Hybrid. The original ‘hybrid’ auto, where regenerative braking charges a battery which provides power to a small electric motor. The electric motor works in tandem with the gas powered engine, which helps to achieve greater MPG and lower emissions. A Mild Hybrid is only recommended if circumstances are such that both charging at home and commercial charging are impractical for the driver.
Plug-In Hybrid. These autos include a battery which one charges from an external source; they run solely on their electric motor until the battery’s charge is exhausted. At this point, the gasoline engine takes over. For those reluctant to jump directly from an ICE (internal combustion engine) auto to an EV, a plug-in hybrid is a good ‘transition’ vehicle.
Electric Vehicles (commonly called EVs). EVs have been mass produced since the original Nissan Leaf debuted in 2010. As most know, Tesla popularized EVs, with their cars having longer range and sleeker design than other early EVs. These days, almost all major auto manufacturers offer EVs.
Concerns and Benefits of Using Plug-In Vehicles
Charging the Battery: If you park in your own garage, or in an outdoor space where you have access to a standard 120 volt receptacle, then you may charge a vehicle without requiring any electrical work. 120 volt charging (A.K.A. Level One charging) adds around 4 to 5.5 range miles an hour, which will provide more range with overnight charging than the average car drives per day. If you need faster charging at home, Level Two charging is for you. An electrician would need to install 240 volt power, which may also require an electrical panel upgrade. Level Two charging provides around 10 – 50 range miles per hour, depending on the electric system and auto’s charging design.
If you don’t have access to power where you park, then you would need to use commercial chargers – or the occasional charger provided by a government agency (which are occasionally free or low-cost). Commercial charging power will cost more than double what home power costs, but electric propulsion is much more energy-efficient than that provided by fossil fuel powered engines.
Battery Environmental Issues: The EV battery life cycle, from mining to manufacturing to recycling, is a legitimate concern. Given the relatively high cost of making EV batteries, and that at the end of plug-in autos’ useful life their batteries still have plenty of power capacity, much work is going on to build better batteries that weigh less, use less precious metals, cost less, are easier to repair, and easier to recycle. There are already businesses that re-purpose used EV batteries for utility renewable power plant battery systems.
Bottom Line: The current environmental impact of battery industry is relatively small as compared to the environmental costs of the fossil fuel industry, in terms of both toxic pollution, and as the largest contributor to global heating.
Utility Power Availability: Will the electric power system will have adequate capacity to handle a growing quantity of electric vehicles? Electric vehicles often charge overnight, when the ‘grid’ has excess capacity. As solar and wind power generation increase, the grid also often has excess power during afternoons. The State and the CA utilities generally believe that grid’s power capacity will increase at an adequate rate to be able to serve forecast needs as electrification becomes more popular.
Catastrophic Battery Failure: There have been some instances of EV batteries failing to the point that they could not be repaired. Battery failure has always been a very low number, and as battery manufacturers improve their battery designs, statistics show that the quantity of total failures is dropping.
Energy Cost: Based on gasoline prices prior to the Iran war, an average MPG ICE car, local residential electricity prices, and average EV power use per mile, EV energy costs are about half as much as fuel costs for ICE cars.
Maintenance: Some studies suggest that average EV maintenance costs are around 40% lower than the average costs for ICE vehicle maintenance.
Shopping for an EV:
- New or Used? Some people like that ‘new car smell’, and are willing to pay a premium for the full warranty that a new car affords. I’m a fan of purchasing cars at the end of their three year lease. These cars are well cared for, still have remaining warranty time, and are relatively economical to purchase.
- Purchase Prices. New EVs are available starting in the upper $20 thousands. 3 year old EVs which were previously leased vehicles, and which have plenty of remaining warranty, can be found for around $20k +/-. For those willing to risk purchasing older EVs with no remaining warranty (but that still drive well), some that are in decent condition can be found starting at around $4k.
- Are there many dealers to choose from for buying and servicing? Most EVs are made by companies whose cars are sold and serviced at a large number of dealers. Some EVs are only sold and serviced by the manufacturer.
Features to Consider:
- Battery Warranty: The Federal minimum requirement is 8 years/100,000 miles. Some EVs come with longer battery warranties. For example, all Hyundai and Kia models come with 10 year/100,000 mile battery warranties.
- Range: If you don’t plan to use your vehicle for long-range trips, 100-150 mile range should be adequate. For several years now, most new EVs have EPA rated range from the low 200’s to the low 300’s. Note that to be conservative, assume that real-world available range is around 60% of the EPA rated range.
- Used auto EV range / What Condition is the Battery In? If the car’s reported battery range is close to what the original EPA rated range is, then the battery is likely in good shape. While an EV seller may be willing to ‘top off’ the battery to show buyers the max. range reported on the dashboard, this is not necessary. Instead, find on the car’s dashboard the current available range, and the current State of Charge (S.O.C., a percentage of battery’s maximum power storage). The current available range / current S.O.C. (as a decimal) = approximate maximum range. For example, if my Kona Electric is reporting that its current available range is 159 miles, and its current S.O.C. is 55%, the math is 159 / 0.55 = 289 miles – which is close to its EPA rating of 258 (my Kona will usually report a total range of around 300 miles when the battery is at 100% S.O.C.; some EVs report a longer range than the EPA rating).
- Charging Speed for DC Fast type charging (for when charging will occur away from home): Some older EVs might take 40-50 minutes to charge from 20 to 80% S.O.C. Most newer EVs take 15 to 30 minutes to accomplish that charging. An internet search for the model being considered should find this information.
- Interior Controls: Some cars come with large screens for controlling most features, including AC and media. Others have more conventional knobs for such controls. Safety experts warn that drivers staring at screens is dangerous.
Contact author Gary Farber at gary.f8642@gmail.com
REFERENCES:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change https://www.ipcc.ch/
Climate Change Impacts, 2025 Summary: https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/75/12/1016/8303627?login=false
EVs vs. ICE vehicles – overall environmental impact: https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000714
Utility Power Availability: Cal ISO – the Independent System Operator, in charge of managing the state’s grid - provides a fairly detailed summary here on how the grid is responding to both the need to transition to renewable energies, and to keep up with growing demand: https://www.caiso.com/about/our-business/managing-the-evolving-grid
Battery Longevity: https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
Costs of operating EVs vs. ICE vehicles: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/electric-vs-gas-cars-it-cheaper-drive-ev
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