Electric cars have been gaining more and more popularity during this generation due to the many advantages they have. People love the fact that the cars are eco-friendly and that they don’t have to pay for gas. Advantages like these turn people to think about purchasing an electric car for their own, but that can be hard for some because the average price for an electric car is around $60,000, which makes the expensive price a reason people don’t usually purchase electric cars (Jack Ewing, NY Times). Despite the head-scratching price tag, it is predicted that many people will get an electric vehicle sometime in the near future. This is thought to happen because, by 2035, all vehicles are expected to quickly be electrified across the country. (Nadia Lopez, CalMatters).
Electric vehicle companies such as Tesla are seen as a big staple in the electric vehicle industry for their popularity and high-tech cars made by Tesla CEO, Elon Musk. Because of Tesla, many companies such as BMW, Ford, Nissan, and more have also jumped on the EV (Electric Vehicle) bandwagon, also producing EVs of some sort. With more companies making EVs, people believe electric cars will be normalized and seen on every street in the 2030s. EVs are highly expected to take over gas-powered cars through a combination of factors such as environmental benefits, lower operating costs, use of electricity to charge the vehicle, and price drops in the future when tens of millions of EVs are made.
With EVs beginning to be normalized, people still worry about the vehicles themselves and how they drive on the road. A major reason why EVs are popular is because of the self-driving ability some of them contain, which some find cool and reliable, and others feel it is unsafe and unnecessary. Many find it unsafe because of the way the technology doesn’t fully know how to respond to unexpected situations. Other reasons consist of the computer technology crashing, making the self-driving experience prone to many issues and possibly resulting in crashes. This leads to technology not always being perfect just like humans (Colin Paterson, drivetech).
Through the competition EVs give to modern gas-powered cars, people expect EVs to take over gas-powered cars sometime soon. Some people believe this to be the right move which will really benefit the world. When asking student Caden Johnson of North High School whether he thinks EVs will take over modern cars or not, he replied, “Yes, because people will push the government to make way more electric cars than gas for climate change purposes…even though they are expensive, they are the future and better for Earth.”
Protecting the environment is something that everyone would like to do, but it can be hard when gas and other fossil fuels are everywhere, creating pollution and affecting the air we breathe. Electric cars can be seen as a solution for reducing the pollution that comes from cars in a significant way. Electric vehicles require no gas, running on electricity instead of combusting fossil fuels. This means there will be cleaner air to breathe, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and a potential for cars to be powered by different energy sources such as wind or solar panels.
