Study of environmental and economical effects of using electric vehicles

Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels have a lasting detrimental effect on the environment, compounding the green house emissions. The transport industry is a major contributor to the problem; more specifically private transportation in the form of internal combustion engine (ICE) driven motor vehicles. Electric vehicles (EVs) are being considered as a promising alternative, but they will have an effect on the infrastructure they rely on, namely “the grid”. This paper discusses and analyses this effect. The load forecast is based on the energy consumption of a concept car developed by the University of South Australia (UniSA), code-named TREV (Two-seater Renewable Energy Vehicle). The paper gives a brief overview of TREV and estimates the impact of adopting such an electric vehicle on the environment in terms of the reduction in carbon released due to the replacing ICE vehicles.