In 2014, the number of EV’s (Electric Vehicle) sold in the U.S. totaled 123,049. Worldwide, the number came to 320,713, according to InsideEVs . The highest selling EV in 2014 was the Nissan LEAF that sold 30,200 cars. The next highest was the Chevrolet Volt with 18,805.
According to FuelEconomy.gov, regular highway gas vehicles release about 1.7 billion tons of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere each year—mostly in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the major causes of global climate change. Each gallon of gasoline burned creates 20 pounds of GHG; roughly 7 to 10 tons of GHG each year for a typical vehicle.
However, ZDNet, an online news site covering business technology, IT trends, issues and events, says the sales of plug-in electric vehicles are only a small percentage of the entire auto market.
The minimal impact that EV’s might have on global warming and air pollution was stated in a 2014 study by Joseph DeCarolis of North Carolina State University. The study appeared in the publication Environmental Science & Technology. DeCarolis, after running over 100 scenarios through an energy systems model to gauge the impact of electric drive passenger vehicles on air pollution in the United States, found that there was little impact. The study claims that even if 42 percent of passenger vehicles in the United States were electric, there would be “little or no reduction in the emission of key air pollutants,” like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide. DeCarolis believes the benefits of EVs would be wiped out by higher emissions from power plants, and, also, passenger vehicles currently make up less than a third of total emissions.
Yet globally, countries are still moving forward to produce and sell EVs. If China increases their use of EVs, it would lessen the dense smog in their cities. China’s pollution is known to have impacted regions thousands of miles away.
Here in the U.S. incentives to buy EVs are luring car buyers. If an EV is either bought or leased, purchasers qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit, and many states offer additional tax credits or other incentives. California offers a $2,500 cash rebate to electric car buyers, for example. Some estimates of how long it would take to pay off an EV with the federal tax credit range about 5 years. And to boost sales, in Japan, Amazon.com the on line bookseller turmed purveyor of almost everything, is now selling electric cars. The Japanese unit of Germany’s BMW started selling its electric models on Amazon.co.jp. Available with a click of the mouse is the popular, regular BMW i3 with a 229-km range, and the i3 Range Extender that runs up to 300 km on one battery charge
Charging stations are becoming less and less of an issue. Finding a charging station anywhere in the world is easy because of PlugShare, a company that provides online information of specific charging locations. They have a database of 30,000+ charging stations in USA and Canada, global coverage of 57,000+ charging stations and 200,000 station reviews and 45,000 charging station photos.
