Running head: EFFECTS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES 1

EFFECTS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES 5

Effects of Electric Vehicles

China Brown

Southern New Hampshire University

Natural Science

02/02/2020

Introduction

The increased use of electric vehicles has reduced the direct emissions of carbon dioxide and air
pollutants for road transport significantly. However, such positive effects of using electric
vehicles have partially been offset by some additional emissions that are usually caused by the
continued use of fossil fuel in the power sector (Holland et al., 2019). Electric cars do not only
emit exhaust fumes but also use batteries that emit toxic fumes. Most of the electricity that is
used to power electric vehicles is usually generated from the non-renewable energy that can have
negative impacts on both the environment and human health (Ma et al., 2017). The significance
of the issue of effects of electric vehicles on Panyu public transport is that it will help in
educating people on why the electric vehicles are not good for the environment and what can be
done to make them better.

The three resources that I can use in investigating the issue of effects of electric cars are,
“Distributional effects of air pollution from electric vehicle adoption”, “The analysis of the
battery electric vehicle’s potentiality of environmental effect” and “Is subsidized electric
vehicles adoption sustainable: Consumers’ perceptions and motivation toward incentive policies,
environmental benefits, and risks.” The similarities in the content of all the sources is that they
all explain about the negative effects of the electric vehicles on the environment. The difference
in the content of the resources is that the first article is specific to how the electric vehicles
pollute the air while the other two articles explain the effects of the electric vehicles in general.
The articles are relevant and significant towards the investigation on the effects of electric
vehicles on the environment because they have provided relevant examples of how the electric
vehicles have impacted the environment in different ways. My thought process when I was
searching for the sources was that I first generalized the environmental effects of the electric
vehicles and what I did to make my choices was to first eliminate all the articles that were not
relevant to the effect of the electric vehicles towards the environment.

What is the effect of electric car technology on Panyu public transport company of China for
over two years?

Body
The study on the effects of electric vehicles will greatly help Panyu public transport company in
realizing the emissions that are usually caused by their vehicles and how they can contribute to
the climatic changes. Once the company has realized the different effects of the electric vehicles
it will then develop some of the best mechanisms that will ensure that the environmental effects
have been reduced and that can be done through minimizing their purchase of the electric
vehicles.

There are some terminologies that might be challenges for the company to understand on their
own. Some of such terminologies are the air pollutants which include PM10, NOx and the
volatile organic compounds (Cusenza et al., 2019). The terminologies can only be explained to
them through offering a better description of what they mean.

The natural scientific principle that applies to the issues of electric vehicle on environmental
change is that the human influence is the key factor that determines the environmental changes.
The key relation between the principle of environmental change is that the emissions caused by
the electric vehicles have started exceeding those that are produced by the diesel vehicles. The
heavy batteries that are possessed by the electric vehicles cause an increased particulate matter
emission from the tires (Li et al., 2017). The electric vehicles still have a combination of the
drum brakes and disc brakes which are both well known for causing particulate emissions
(Zhang et al., 2018).The electric vehicles usually rely on electricity that is usually generated by
the fossil energy which can as well result to pollution causing environmental change.

References

Cusenza, M. A., Bobba, S., Ardente, F., Cellura, M., & Di Persio, F. (2019). Energy and
environmental assessment of a traction lithium-ion battery pack for plug-in hybrid electric
vehicles. Journal of cleaner production, 215, 634-649.

Holland, S. P., Mansur, E. T., Muller, N. Z., & Yates, A. J. (2019). Distributional effects of air
pollution from electric vehicle adoption. Journal of the Association of Environmental and
Resource Economists, 6(S1), S65-S94.

Li, S., Tong, L., Xing, J., & Zhou, Y. (2017). The market for electric vehicles: indirect network
effects and policy design. Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource
Economists, 4(1), 89-133.

Ma, Y., Ke, R. Y., Han, R., & Tang, B. J. (2017). The analysis of the battery electric vehicle’s
potentiality of environmental effect: A case study of Beijing from 2016 to 2020. Journal of
cleaner production, 145, 395-406.

Zhang, X., Bai, X., & Shang, J. (2018). Is subsidized electric vehicles adoption sustainable:
Consumers’ perceptions and motivation toward incentive policies, environmental benefits, and
risks.Journal of Cleaner Production, 192, 71-79.