Are electric vehicles actually eco-friendly

My 13-year-old son brought up the subject as he is very aware of climate change and myths surrounding our efforts to be more environmentally friendly. After I recorded this podcast episode I began to wonder how much of an impact it would have to drive an electric vehicle.

Electric Vehicles which were hitherto thought to be a viable and environment-friendly alternative to carbon-emitting vehicular fuels such as petrol and diesel, are actually equally hazardous to the environment, if not more. In fact, recent studies have corroborated the fact that EVs are considerably worse for the climate than diesel cars. ~ The Myth Around Electric Vehicles: Are They Really Eco-friendly?

My point is, there are so many conflicting messages. What is the best thing to do when it comes to the environment? With many eco-friendly concepts, the problem lies not in people's willingness to change, but in not knowing which changes are most impactful.

The bottom line for me was all about the lack of standardized charging plugs. I share my experience in this podcast.

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Looking for electric car charging stations

Depending on where you live this may or may not present a challenge. With an electric car, the most convenient way to charge it would be at home, overnight while you sleep. That could present a challenge if you live in a dorm, condo, or apartment. Unless there are charing stations in the parking area, you will need to charge the electric vehicle elsewhere.

In Knoxville, if you live locally and can charge your electric car over night, no problem! The difficulty arises when charging at night is not a possibility.

Another problem would be if you were driving an electric car from Nashville to Sevierville. You could run into some difficulty if you stopped by Knoxville to get a quick charge!

It took a lot of time and extra driving to find a place to charge the electric vehicle. When I arrived at the first two locations, they had been removed. After more driving and searching I ran into other problems; the fast charge option was not working.

What about people who do not live here and are just passing through? I would be so upset if I were stopping in Knoxville just to get charged. Many of the locations that show up on the map are no longer there or simply do not work.

Screen shot showing many of the charging stations, some were no longer available

Blink charging stations do not require a membership. "Anyone can charge at a public EV charger on the Blink Network. If you are not a Blink member, payment can be made using a Blink Guest Code" by going to their website. Blink.com

When you do find a working charging station you still may not be able to charge.  "The spaces might be occupied — sometimes even by a non-EV owner who wasn’t paying attention to the signs" noted Ronald Montoya his article Can you own an electric vehicle with out a home charger? He concludes, "It is possible to own an EV without a home charger. But it depends on how much you drive daily and how comfortable you are with sticking to a routine of public charging."