Green cars not as clean as you think

So you’ve gone and purchased one of those green electric or gas-electric hybrid automobiles. You believe in being environmentally responsible, and you want to do your part to save the earth.
Good for you.
However, owning a so-called green car isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. The electric or hybrid vehicle you are driving may not be as green as you think it is.
Whether you are driving a gas-electric hybrid or a fully electric vehicle, you ought to consider where electricity comes from in the first place. Most electricity—including the energy stored in batteries—comes from power plants that, more often than not, are either fueled by coal or a nuclear reactor. Some are hydroelectric—meaning water powered—but even many of the internal mechanical parts of a dam run on fossil or nuclear fuel.
Take a closer look at the materials that make up your green car, too. Plastics, fiberglass, resins, rubber and other laboratory-created materials are commonly derived from polymers that originate most often from fossil fuels and other carbon-based elements. From tires to wheels; from the paneling to the shell; from the handles to hooks, floor mats, steering column, hoses, belts, battery, gas tank, and even the paint job—among many other intricate parts of an automobile—fossil fuel is used as a base to make most car parts.
Then there are the fluids and lubricants—such as engine oil, axle grease, automatic transmission fluid, and brake fluid—needed to run the various systems of an automobile. Most, if not all, of these chemicals have a fossil fuel base or are primarily composed of fossil fuel elements.
How about the manufacturing equipment and machinery used to assemble the green cars? Don’t you suppose that these run on fossil fuel, too?
If you are a green car owner, then I’m sorry to rain on your parade. Knowing what goes into producing green cars, however, puts a whole new spin on the term “green” technology.
Sure, you save money at the pump by not purchasing as much gasoline and not filling up as often as other conventional automobiles; but there is still a significant amount of fossil fuel and carbon-based materials that are required to build green cars and keep them running.
I just don’t want you to mistakenly think that you are somehow sticking it to “Big Oil” or saving Mother Earth by driving an eco-friendly green car, because there is oil even in the cleanest and most environmentally responsible automobiles.
Chances are, too, that you will be doing business with the oil companies over the life of your new electric or hybrid vehicle more times than you care to count.
The worst part about all of this is that electric and hybrid vehicles are grossly overpriced because of their popular façade. Consumers can expect to pay on average $10K or more above the price of a conventional model just for the privilege of owning an electric or hybrid vehicle. Imagine paying $25K for a Toyota Prius or Honda Insight, the standard equipment and options for which really aren’t any different from those of the more conventional gasoline-powered models. To add insult to injury, you pay $25K for a compact car that, in size and functionality, isn’t any better than other compacts priced between $10K and $15K.
Furthermore, imagine having to fork over $2,500 to replace the hybrid battery once its life has run its course. That’s a huge expense for a used vehicle that probably won’t be worth much more than that on the open market when the time comes.
Imagine paying $35K for a hybrid compact SUV or $50-60K for a full-size SUV hybrid. Again, standard equipment and options are comparable, if not identical, to those available on conventional gasoline-powered models. And functionally, you are paying $60K for a $40K vehicle.
The concept of an electric car is nothing new or avant garde to the automobile industry. It isn’t some radical new technology.
Electric technology has existed for about a century, when the first electric prototypes were produced as alternatives to gasoline-based internal combustion engines. In the early days of automobile development, steam and electric motors competed with gasoline-powered engines. Unfortunately, none proved as efficient or effective as the fossil fueled internal combustion engine.
The electric motor has been reintroduced as something new, something better and something different multiple times throughout the history of automobile manufacturing. Each time, however, electric cars fail to catch on.
Popular opinion has it that “Big Oil” and automobile makers are in bed with each other, and that there is a conspiracy to produce only fossil fuel based engines because that’s what keeps the oil companies in business.
I admit that such an argument sounds convincing; but when you look at history and the reasons why the electric car has failed to become a household item, then a conspiracy does not seem likely or even reasonable.
The bottom line is that the consumer historically has rejected electric vehicles, because they haven’t been efficient enough in the use of their energy; that is, they haven’t had the range to drive them from point A to point B before running low or out of energy. Consequently, electric vehicles have certainly not been effective or reliable in getting people where they want to go, either.
Then there is repair and maintenance of an electric vehicle to consider. Parts and components for an electric motor have historically been cost prohibitive for the average consumer. Batteries required to run an electric engine these days can easily cost four digits—perhaps as high as five digits in some cases—and have an average life of a little more than 100,000 miles.
If you insist on going electric, then, by all means, go for it.
It’s your money, after all; spend it however you want to spend it.
But please don’t insist that you are somehow being more environmentally responsible than I am for operating a gasoline-powered vehicle, because yours still uses fossil fuel and carbon-based materials that are not supposed to be good for the environment.
Don’t claim that you are buying smart by going green, either, because in reality, you’ve probably overpaid at the dealer and you will likely overpay over the life of your vehicle.