Introduction
Alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) are one of the most important trends in the auto industry. Each year, thousands of Americans purchase electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid cars and trucks, or hydrogen-powered vehicles. These vehicles offer a wide variety of benefits for drivers and communities alike, including cleaner air, improved gas mileage and energy independence from foreign oil. In this article we’ll look at some of these benefits in more detail so you can decide if an alternative fuel vehicle is right for you!
What is an Alternative Fuel Vehicle?
Alternative fuel vehicles are those that run on electricity, hydrogen and other fuels that are not gasoline. They can be powered by batteries, natural gas or hydrogen. The most common alternative fuel vehicles are hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). These use both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor to power the car’s wheels–much like a conventional vehicle with a combustion engine alone would do. In addition to reducing emissions from tailpipe pollution, these types of cars have lower carbon footprints overall because they get more miles per gallon than traditional cars do.
Cleaner Air
Alternative fuel vehicles are a clean, efficient, and cost-effective way to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. They also help you avoid dependence on foreign oil.
- Cleaner Air: Alternative fuel vehicles produce less air pollution than conventional gasoline-powered cars, which means cleaner air for you!
- Reduced Dependence on Foreign Oil: American drivers spend more than $1 billion each year importing oil from other countries that we could be buying domestically if we switched to alternative fuel vehicles like E85 (ethanol), propane or natural gas. This helps keep our economy strong by keeping those dollars at home where they belong!
Improved Gas Mileage
Gas mileage is improved because electric vehicles are more efficient than gas-powered cars. Electric vehicles are powered by batteries, and batteries are more efficient than the internal combustion engine. This means that your car will use less power from its battery to travel the same distance as a conventional vehicle would use gasoline or diesel fuel.
In addition to improving gas mileage, EVs can be charged at home or at public charging stations (such as restaurants or shopping centers).
Energy Independence
Alternative fuels are not only good for the environment, but they also reduce the need for foreign oil and thus help to keep our country’s economy strong.
Reduced Dependence on Foreign Oil
Reducing the U.S.’s dependence on foreign oil is good for the economy, national security and the environment.
The U.S. is currently importing about 60{a5ecc776959f091c949c169bc862f9277bcf9d85da7cccd96cab34960af80885} of its oil, which means that we are paying more money than we should be to other countries like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria (among others). This has led to an increase in our trade deficit as well as putting us at risk of war if any one country decides not to sell us their resources anymore (such as what happened with Iran recently).
Additionally, when you buy a vehicle that uses alternative fuels like natural gas or electricity instead of gasoline/diesel fuel it reduces carbon dioxide emissions into our atmosphere which helps reduce global warming effects like rising sea levels due to melting ice caps at both poles!
The advantages of electric vehicles are clear.
The advantages of electric vehicles are clear.
- They’re cleaner. Electric vehicles do not emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides when they are driven. They also don’t produce particulate matter–the tiny particles found in diesel exhaust that can cause lung disease and cancer.
- They have lower emissions than gasoline-powered cars because electricity is made from renewable resources such as solar and wind power, which means there’s no waste product to deal with later on in the process (like carbon dioxide).
- They’re more efficient than gas-powered cars because they have higher energy density per unit volume–meaning you get more power out of each battery charge compared with burning fossil fuels like gasoline or diesel fuel byproducts like propane or butane
Conclusion
The benefits of alternative fuel vehicles are clear. They’ll help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality and save money at the pump. These cars are also much more efficient than traditional gasoline-powered vehicles because they have electric motors instead of combustion engines. Electric cars use about half as much energy per mile than traditional cars do–and when you consider how much fuel goes into powering homes and businesses too (not just transportation), that’s a lot less pollution!
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