If electric vehicles are the way to go to reduce emissions, wouldn’t charging them use up a lot of power, therefore still being costly and polluting? How does it work?

Question

I know very little about today’s climate actions despite routing for them, so I just want to take an opportunity to better understand them. How some things may just be temporary solutions or revolutionary ones.

I do not want climate change debates, I just want to know if powering electric cars has its trade offs or are really going to help.

In: Engineering

Answer 1

If the electricity to charge the car comes from fossil fuels, then yes, there is some waste. But the pollution generated in order to make that amount of electricity is still far lower than the pollution generated by a gas- or diesel-powered car.

Clearly this is not a perfect solution, but it is a significant step in the right direction. As more and more people buy electric cars, the technology will continue to become increasingly efficient.