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Rembrand Paul Pardo

English 2010
Professor Joshua Terry
April 25, 2016
From Gas to Electric in 50 Years
Our desire to move from one place to another in an easy, fast, and secure way for
everybody has helped us come up with incredible inventions. These inventions have not always
been perfect and well accepted at the beginning, but something that the years bring is progress. A
perfect example of this was the case of the automobile. A hundred years ago, the horseless
carriage was an oddity. This new, mechanized way to travel drew curious and skeptical looks
from people who questioned its ability to compete with the horse-drawn carriage. Would it be as
reliable as horses? Could the average person ever afford it? Since the beginning of cars when
they were powered by beast force to these days of use of combustible power, the improvement of
cars has increased rapidly and amazingly. Based on the World Market Data in 2011, there were
809 motor vehicles per 1,000 Americans (Motor vehicles (per 1,000 people)). These advances in
technology and innovation have made the motor vehicle one of the most used inventions, one
that has changed the way we live and our world. It is, once more, time to go one step further; we
have to use electric engines, not only because will benefit our environment and will save us
money in the long run, but because it will keep with the progress, a progress that was initiated
since the invention of the wheel.
Electric Vehicles (EV) were stars in the early automobile market. By the end of 1890, 38
percent of all horseless vehicles were powered by electricity, slightly more ran on steam and only

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22 percent used gasoline (Brown and Cummins). These gasoline powered vehicles, at first were
an awkward and uncomfortable technology that required operators to turn a heavy crank every
time they started the engine. Even more, at that time gasoline dispensers were few and far
between, making it difficult to travel any great distance. But after the turn of the century, these
gasoline powered cars became increasingly reliable, lighter and able to travel much longer on a
tank of gas. Much the same has happened with electric vehicles. A couple of decades ago EV
were a relatively new technology with many drawbacks such as few and far between points of
charge and small distance travelled on a single charge. However, due to the actual environmental
situation, the exponential diminution of fossil sources, and the increased improvement in
technology of electric engines over the past few years, electric cars are not only one of the few
ways of progression but as the best one. Therefore, in a period of 50 years we have to be
completed in a transition from gas and hybrid cars to electric ones, that is, every single person
should be driving an EV in 50 years. This means that the next car you purchase should be an EV
and also means that we should apply and use technologys advances in every level of our
structure from the driving public, to repair shop operators, and energy companies to the car
companies and factories so the progress in these EV can go faster and improve even more.
For some, the shape and the looks of the car is something that really matters when it
comes to buying a car, this is so that most of the best sold cars are the ones that not only perfume
well but also look great. Due to the famous Prius some could say that these EV look just like
eggs with wheels. This could have been a reasonable argument in the past but nowadays the great
variety in EV meets most of the needs of car lovers and they even satisfy those needs with good
grade. If either power, velocity, or utility is what you look for in a car the options available are
many: coupes like Fiat 500 e, hatchbacks like the BMW i3, sedans like Fords Fusion Energi,

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wagons like Kias Soul EV, sport ones like Telsas Roadster, and even minivans like
Volkswagens BUDD-e. Every year the progress in EV brings more innovative cars and options.
For example, this year Tesla motors has just revealed its new affordable car, the Model 3. Its a
handsome sedan, with four doors and five seats, and all the comfort and practicality youd expect
of an upscale mid-size sedan. The battery is good for a 0 to 60 mph time under six seconds, a
range of 215 miles. Additionally, Tesla motors plans on making an even more affordable,
potentially targeting a price of $ 20, 000 (Niu). These electric vehicles have been around for
quite a while, and every year they have been improving. For example, the Ford Motor Company
adapted a small truck model that was sold in Europe as the chassis for its Ecostar, in 1990,
which exhibited the best performances of any EV on the market. It has traveled as far as 158
miles on a single charge and accelerated at a rate comparable to many gasoline powered vehicles
in its class. By that time General Motors announced that a new vehicle, the Impact, would
outperform many gasoline powered vehicles. The prototype Impact accelerated faster than many
muscle cars, going from zero to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds. GM also announced that the production
model Impact would travel up to 90 miles on a charge, and would charge in two to three hours
(Brown and Cummins). Another great example, for those speed lovers, of the great achievement
in these EV is the 2011 Teslas Roadster, despite having a motor thats only about the size of a
large watermelon. The Roadster could break the four second threshold with ease and was rated at
3.7 seconds. It also boasted a range of over 200 miles, catapulting electric cars into a whole new
league of performance. Four years later Teslas chief, Elon Musk, has announced that a nextgeneration Roadster is on its way for 2019, with an expected range of 400 miles, and 0 to 60 mph
in the mid two second range (New 2nd Gen. Tesla Roadster coming in 4 years). But if you are
more of a practical person, there are EV choices thatd fit your needs, for example the Toyota

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RAV4 EV. This plug-in car goes from 0 to 62 mph in 7 seconds with a top speed of 100 mph and
it has a range of 103 miles. It has lots of utility, with 37.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the
rear seats, or 37 cubic feet with the rear seats folded down. So everyone who is planning on
buying a new vehicle now should purchase an EV as the options are so many that can meet the
needs of those purchasers.
Others who are still opposed to these EV could argue that the biggest challenge of these
cars are the pricy batteries (Moore, 37). However, thiss not completely true. The battery pack
could be used during a quite reasonable period of time ranging from 8 to 15 years says a report
of the American Chemical Society. Before, the price of a new battery for an electric car was
$10,000 to $15,000. This meant that you should spend that money every 8 or 15 years, but the
improvements in these EVs have changed that. For example, Nissan has announced that the cost
of a replacement lithium-ion battery pack for its 2016 Nissan Leaf is a surprisingly low $5,499,
after a $1,000 credit for turning in the old pack which is required (Voelcker). The average life
expectancy of a car is 12 years or 250,000 miles (How to make your car last 200,000 miles), so
this means that you should buy a new car every 11 years which is almost the life expectancy of
an electric cars battery. Based on this, in a period of 50 years, you should own 4 to 5 cars in
which you should purchase an EV as your new car. This is even enough time for EV technology
to improve and advance in battery reliability. For example, the innovation of sodium-sulfur
batteries, which store more energy than most other electric batteries; they allow cars to travel
much farther before recharging and are made of inexpensive material. These, however, are still in
development. Beyond fuel and battery, maintenance costs EVs can be lower than those of
conventional vehicles. In general, all-electric cars that use only electricity require less

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maintenance because there are usually fewer fluids (like oil and transmission fluid) to change
and fewer moving parts (Saving money with electric vehicles).
These EV not only have improved in their engines but also save us money. If you start
changing from gas to electric or even hybrid cars, taking advantage of federal government and
state offered financial and non-financial incentives, and the stability of the electricity prices
versus petroleum prices can make the acquisition of an EV a good deal. Depending on the type
of car you have you have to use the best suitable octane rate which is: 87 (Regular gas), 89 (Midgrade or plus gas) or 92 (Premium gas) (Utah fuel prices). The octane rate is used to judge the
volatility of gasoline. The lower the rating, the easier it is for the gasoline to burn. Based on a
report of the American Automobile Association of Utah, as of today the cost of gas for regular is
$1.890, mid-grade is $1.998, and premium is $2.114. Petroleum prices are historically very
volatile and could change substantially in the future. Due to the fact we only have 53.3 years of
oil reserves, the price of petroleum could go really high. In general, it can cost about half as
much to drive an EV as an equivalent gasoline vehicle. Using national averages, EV drivers pay
$1.220 to drive the same distance a conventional car could go on a gallon of gasoline (Saving
money with electric vehicles). The difference between a gallon of the cheapest kind of octane
and how much an EV driver spends is about $ 0.670. If we multiply that amount by 12 gallons
(average gas tank size for cars) then by 52 (number of weeks in a year), assuming a person fills
the car up once a week, then by 12 (average life expectancy of a car in years), we end up with a
great savings in a long run, about $ 5,000, that could balance the little extra that electric vehicles
cost.
An important aspect that we must consider when purchasing a new car is the effect that
the machine has on the environment. The U.S. Energy Administration says that three of the main

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U.S energy consumption sources come from Petroleum by 37.3 %, Natural Gas by 24.7 %, and
Coal by 20.9 %. These energy sources are decreasing alarmingly due to excess use and are major
pollutants and can affect our health. It is impossible to know exactly how much coal exists in the
U.S. because it is buried underground, but it is possible to make an estimation: the U.S Energy
Information Administration (EIA) states that it could be enough coal to last about 200 years
(Coal Explained, How Much Coal is Left). The United States consumes over 20 million barrels
(840 million gallons) of petroleum products each day, almost half of it in the form of gasoline
used by over 200 million motor vehicles (Where Does My Gasoline Come From?). The world
provided oil reserves reached 1,687.9 billion barrels at the end of 2013, sufficient to meet 53.3
years of global production (Oil Reserves). By the end of the time proposed earlier, we would
have oil left for 3.3 years more. Almost the same occurs with natural gas. Based on EIAs report
estimates that as of January 1, 2013 there were about 2,276 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of technically
recoverable resources of natural gas (How Much Natural Gas Does the United States Have, and
How Long Will it Last?). At a rate of consumption in 2013 of about 27 Tcf per year, the United
States has natural gas to last about 83 years.
Electrics cars consume no gasoline at all, therefore these cars are zero-emission vehicles,
and their lack of tailpipe emissions is a huge step toward an improved environment and towards
the end of the worlds reliance on fossil fuels. Some might say that electric cars are simply
moving emissions from the vehicles tailpipe to power plant smokestacks like coal-fired power
plants (Birnbaum 1). This is why in regions where fossil sources are most used, such as the
Midwest, which uses a significant amount of coal (Kliesch 62) should begin with Hybrid cars
(vehicles that are propelled by more than one power source, usually a petrol or diesel engine with
an electric motor, mated together to work in conjunction) and then in a couple years later when

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the renewable technologies arrive to those regions change to electric cars. The application of this
kind of car in these regions would reduce the impact of factory pollution greatly and would be a
good means of transition from gas to electric cars after a couple of decades. Due to the
decreasing source of our fossil energies, new and renewable energies have to be implanted in
these regions before the sources run out. Thus the pollution of the electric cars would be
eliminated. The Northeast, Northwest, and Pacific Coast generate electricity using large amounts
of renewable power (Kliesch 62). California, being one of these states, has some of the cleanest
electricity in the nation and it has already initiated changes, created incentives, and made laws
and regulations in favor of electric cars. It wouldnt be a problem to make a complete transition
between cars, probably even in less than 50 years. Every time it is more usual to find
infrastructures and points of recharge for electric vehicles. Using California as an example we
can see that this is possible. Car mechanics, car workshops, and others have adopted and even
found a new way of getting profit by serving and working these new technologies. With a vast
period of time of 50 years, there is more than enough time to gradually change our
infrastructures and provide points of service for these EV. And even more to learn and improve
the knowledge of this new technology that is the electric engine, just as we did when
innovation for gasoline engines appeared in the earlier 1900s. It is important to note, though, that
from a health standpoint, one major advantage of moving pollution from the tailpipe to the
power plant is that it gets pollutants farther away from pedestrians and other drivers, lowering
the impact on the concentrated population.
Technology is something amazing that grows and advances in a rapid ways, but even
more amazing is the human capacity to adapt to technology and its changes. Almost 200 years
ago Francois Isaac the Rivaz designed the first car powered by an internal combustion engine

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fueled by hydrogen and in 1866 the first petrol or gasoline power automobile the Benz PatentMotorwagen was invented by Karl Benz (Karl Benz). Not so many years have passed since those
days of adaptation to the new weird metal horses and now as weve seen in this paper the
reduction of energy sources and the innovation of new technologies lead us to a new adaptation.
Some states already showed that it is viable to change from gas to plug-in cars. This change is
even affordable, and the different variety of EV out in the market and those that are coming meet
the majority of our car necessities. It is possible for everybody to be driving an electric car in 50
years. EV technologies can and will improve even more in a few decades, but we have to start
incentivizing the market now by buying these cars.

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Works Cited
Brown, Matthew H. and Cummins Jackie, "Make Way for the Electric Car." State
Legislatures. 1 Apr. 1995. Web. 24 March, 2016.
Birnbaum, Michael. Boom in Electric Cars Boosts Demand for Coal Power. Washington Post.
24 Nov, 2015. 20 March, 2016.
Coal Explained, How Much Coal Is Left. U.S. Energy Information Administration. N. p., n. d. web.
18 March, 2016. <https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?
page=coal_reserves>
Healey, James R. Average New Car Price USA Today. Gannet, 04 May 2015. Web. 20
March, 2016.
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/05/04/new-cartransaction-price-3-kbb-kelley-blue-book/26690191/ >
How Much Natural Gas Does The United States Have, And How Long Will It Last? U.S. Energy
Information Administration. N. p., n. d. web. 16 March, 2016.
<http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=58&t=8>
How to Make Your Car Last 200,000 Miles. Consumers Report. N. p., n. d. web. 20
March, 2016. <http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/05/makeyour-car-last-200-000-miles/index.htm >
Karl Benz. ASME. N. p., n. d. web. 20 March, 2016.
<https://www.asme.org/engineeringtopics/articles/automotive/karl-benz >

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Kelley Blue Book. Kelley Blue Book- New and Used Car Price Values, Expert Car
Reviews. N. p., n. d. web. 20 March, 2016. < http://www.kbb.com/ >
Kliesch, James. Why Electric Cars Are Cleaner. Mother Earth News (No. 244)
Feb/Mar 2011, p. 58- 68. 20 March, 2016.
Moore, Bill. Drive and EV and Never Buy Again. Mother Earth
News. April/May 2006. p. 32-38. 20 March, 2016.
Motor Vehicles (per 1, 000 people). The World Bank. The World Bank Group. N. p., n. d. web. 18
March, 2016.
<http://web.archive.org/web/20150209111619/http://data.worldbank.org/i
ndicator/IS.VEH.NVEH.P3 >
New 2 nd Gen. Tesla Roadster Coming in 4 Years. Teslarati. N. p., 20 July 2015. Web.
20 March, 2016. <http://www.teslarati.com/new-2nd-gen-teslaroadster-coming-4-years/ >

Niu, Evan. After Model3, Tesla Motors Will Make an Even More Affordable Car. The Montley
Fool. 20 Apr. 2016. 25 April, 2016.
<http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/25/after-model-3-tesla-motors-willmake-an-even-more.aspx>
Oil Reserves. BP Global. N. p., n. d. web. 17 March, 2016.
<http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statisticalreview-of-world-energy/oil-review-by-energy-type/oil-reserves.html >

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Saving Money with Electric Vehicles. Energy.gov.16 Sep. 2015. Web. 20 March,
2016. <http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/saving-moneyelectric-vehicles >
Utah Fuel Prices. American Automobile Association Daily Fuel Gauge Report. N. p., n.d. web. 20
March, 2016. <http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com/states/utah/>
Voelcker, John. Nissan Leaf new Battery Costs: $5,500 For Replacement With HeatResistant Chemistry. Green Car Report. 28 Jun. 2014. 20 March, 2016.
<http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1092983_nissan-leafbattery-cost-5500-for-replacement-with-heat-resistant-chemistry >
Where Does My Gasoline Come From? Department of Natural Resources. N. p., n. d. web. 17
March, 2016. <http://dnr.louisiana.gov/index.cfm?
md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&pid=244 >

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