It’s starting to become more prevalent for car manufacturers to unveil electric vehicles in their lineups. With countries around the world agreeing to go electric, the race to reduce carbon emissions and better protect the environment is happening at last.

President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure plan, with $5 billion going towards the progression of EVs, will ensure a network of electric chargers are funded throughout the states. General Motors, one of the largest automotive manufacturers worldwide, Volvo, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, and 30 national governments have made the pledge to stop production of new gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles by 2040 at the latest, with multiple automakers aiming to achieve that goal several years sooner. As the world prepares to make the change and go greener, a question arises among the collective voice of the civilians awaiting this seemingly bright future: how green are electric vehicles really?

The answer to this inquiry depends on both the electric grids used, and the car itself. Electric vehicles are basically always going to be more environmentally friendly than those fueled by gasoline; this much we know for sure. But the true extent is determined by the amount of coal in the grids used to charge them.

The average grid in America is made up of fossil fuels and renewable power plants, guaranteeing a much greener process. However, the more coal-heavy power grids of the Midwest are not as green as the modern hybrids that run on gasoline and use a battery to provide extra mileage. Coal is the deciding factor of just how eco-friendly electric cars can be. This is why there is a growing push to clean electric grids, lower emissions, and switch to renewable energy, such as wind and solar power.

The other reason why one type of electric vehicle might be less green than another is the battery. Many EVs use raw materials, with the most common being cobalt, lithium, and earth elements. Finding these resources has proven to be harmful to both the environment and people.

Mining cobalt leaves behind pollutants that are hazardous to nearby communities, and the extraction of the metals can cause pollution. On top of these harmful effects, there is growing concern among human rights groups due to the dangerous conditions for workers, including children. Producing batteries also requires large amounts of groundwater, so shortages are plausible.

To tackle some of these issues, many manufacturers have set another goal of developing batteries without cobalt. The number of batteries getting recycled is also still low and will need to be improved, but it is another objective for automakers.

To find out exactly how green a particular electric vehicle is, https://www.carboncounter.com/#!/explore is a website specifically made for showing a comprehensible chart of EV costs and how much greenhouse gas emissions they release. The search bar can be used to search for any type of car and the data is displayed to let users know exactly how environmentally friendly it is. 

Floshare has chosen the 2020 Chevy Bolt EV to represent the organization due to its truly green embodiment and performance.