Are electric cars the drive of the future?

President wants 50% of all cars to be electric by 2030

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Tom Hayes

Cars are being charged at the GetGo near Crawfordsville

Mark Zackery, staff writer

You have to charge your car? 

Surprisingly, yes and it is going to be the future of vehicles on the road. Of course, in today’s day and age there are still a majority of cars on the road that need gas to give it fuel.

On the rise are cars that don’t require gas and need to be charged with electricity. President Joe Biden has even called for half of all vehicles in America to be electric by 2030 and he would like the entire fleet of government owned vehicles to be all-electric by 2035. 

During the pandemic and recently because the United States conflicts with other countries, a lot of people have started to buy electric vehicles to prevent having to pay loads of money for gas.

Gas prices had increased 165.5% since June of 2021.

The first electric car was first put on the street around 1890, which was created by William Morrison in Des Moines, Iowa. It was a six-passenger vehicle that could reach 14 miles per hour. This vehicle was the first car to create interest in electric cars. Electric cars were more popular in urban areas especially for women.

Today, the most known electric car brand is Tesla. Tesla was founded by Elon Musk on July 1, 2003, in San Carlos, CA. Tesla’s first electric car was released in 2008, The Roadster, which was $108,000 to purchase at the time. 

Tesla has a lot more electric car models now like the Model 3, Model S, Model X, and Model Y. They all have a different look to them but mostly do the same thing. Tesla is soon going to be releasing the Cybertruck and Roadster 2.0, which is the first design they ever created. 

The brand Tesla also offers a solar powered roof and an in-home charger for your car. 

Electric cars are starting to become way more popular and other brands are also putting more time and effort into creating not just gasoline fueled cars but electric and hybrid vehicles. 

Electric cars do present some issues that need to be addressed. In central Indiana, there are only 137 electric car charging stations available for public use. Most electric cars can travel 250 on one full charge so long-distance traveling does come with more planning.

Charging a car can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours depending on the type of charger being used and the health of the battery.

According to the Department of Energy, the national average cost of electricity is 10 cents per kWh and 11.7 cents per kWh for residential use.  For example, at 10 cents per kWh, an electric vehicle with an efficiency of 3 miles per kWh would have an energy cost of about 3.3 cents per mile. In comparison, a gas-powered vehicle that gets 22 miles per gallon at a fuel cost of $3.50 per gallon would have an energy cost of 15.9 cents per mile. 

Look into purchasing an electric car because this is our future.