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What type of car should we drive?

Quamrul Haider
According to ward's AutoWorld estimate, motor vehicles, such as passenger cars, buses, and light, medium and heavy duty trucks worldwide currently emit a whopping 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year. (This figure does not include off-road vehicles or heavy construction equipment.) These emissions account for more than 20 percent of carbon dioxide released globally by burning fossil fuel. That is why automobiles driven by us are one of the major culprits for destabilizing the natural order of our planet.
Unfortunately, we have long grown accustomed to thinking that the carbon conundrum that results from automobiles are inevitable. It is no longer true. Short of abandoning the conventional gasoline-burning cars for mass transport, solutions to the conundrum are eco-friendly electric, hybrid and solar-powered cars.
Electric cars use energy stored in batteries. They give off no emissions, and are energy and cost efficient. One can expect to spend the equivalent of
around 60 cents per gallon or 12.50 Taka per liter to run an electric car. Since electric cars have fewer moving parts, they operate more quietly than gasoline cars.
Despite the environmental and longterm financial advantages, there are some disadvantages of owning electric cars. They have significant battery-related challenges. It takes 4 to 8 hours to fully recharge a battery. Moreover, during winter season, batteries could cause some problems due to extreme weather conditions. Besides, they have a driving range of 100-200 miles. In contrast, their gasoline-burning cousins can go 300-400 miles before refueling.
Hybrid cars, a cross between electric and conventional cars, generally produce 80 percent less greenhouse gases than comparable gasoline cars. They also have a much better fuel economy, 0.45 to 1.0 gallon to drive 25 miles.
The advantages of hybrids are outweighed by the maintenance cost. It is very high because of the complexity of the dual combustion system. Since the gasoline part of the hybrids' engine is smaller than regular cars, they deliver less power. The electric motor has low
power too.
Solar cars, as the name suggests, harness energy from the Sun and converts it into electricity using photovoltaic cells. The electricity then fuels the battery that runs the car's motor. Instead of using a battery, some solar cars direct the power straight to an electric motor.
Owning a solar car has both advantages and disadvantages. Much like electric cars, solar cars have zero carbon footprints. This makes them more eco-friendly than hybrid cars. According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a typical solar car needs 32 kilowatt-hours of electricity per 100 miles. This is equivalent to an unbeatable 105 mpg.
Although the benefits of solar cars, particularly the zero fuel cost, may seem appealing, there are still many technological hurdles that have to be overcome before they can become reality. Driving a solar car may not be the most pleasant experience because it can heat up quickly. If a solar car runs entirely on solar power then the car has to be in the presence of sunlight all the time. Hence, getting around at night or on rainy days when the Sun is nowhere
to be seen will be a problem. Additionally, the cars have to be extremely lightweight in order to be able to move.
What is the retail price of a solar-powered car? While sunlight is free, the solar panels and photovoltaic cells that capture sunlight are expensive. The much-hyped 2014 Tesla is priced at $91,000!
So, what type of car should we drive? We have two clear-cut choices before us: live with some inconveniences that come with eco-friendly cars or maintain status quo by driving eco-unfriendly cars.
Each of the cars described here can be adapted to our lifestyle if we can develop an ecological sensitivity that allows the environment some basic rights. Otherwise, the potential manenvironment conflict will persist, and sooner than later, we will be heading towards a global catastrophe - the Earth will most likely become hostile to human life. Lest we forget, we need a habitable Earth; the Earth does not need us.
The writer is Professor of physics at Fordham University, New York.