Electric Vehicles - Problem or Solution

    If the problem is carbon emissions due to heavy use of fossil fuels, electric vehicles is the solution, at least until we find a better alternative. But considering how complex problems like climate change and electricity sourcing are, a linear approach couldn’t even begin to identify all the causes of these problems and that’s why, electric vehicles are only a short-term solution. In the long-term, we would need to get into the scientific basics and numbers to be certain about what to change, increase and decrease and to identify grassroots challenges and roadblocks with various stakeholders. Talking about stakeholders, the recent announcement of an increase in costs related to diesel vehicles can be considered as a strategy to increase the consumption of electric vehicles and eventually market it as a short-term solution to reduce the carbon emission, until a better solution is figured out. Though this is just the situation in India, it’ll inevitably cause effects in other countries like climate change and international motor trends always have. Thus, it would call for joint international discussions to ensure that the worse-effected states don’t end up facing their worst and vice versa. 

    As for reductionism and holism, I believe both approaches would be required to effectively implement electric vehicles as a solution because the problem of carbon emissions is too huge and too intricate when added with the chemistry and physics of electric vehicles to be understood by an absolute layman, especially when the kinds of electric vehicles could be extremely varied. As for holism, I think it’s a more addressable issue considering how many governments do not want to or only want to support the buying and selling of electric vehicles in certain amounts to maintain the financial support from certain corporate giants in the motor vehicle industry. Breaking down such systemic issues could also bring to light how some states might have preferences for certain kinds of electric vehicles using certain kinds of technologies to generate, borrow, and/or store that current, which might or might not be a problem accordingly. Depending on these results, it would give insights into systemic patterns which need or need not be broken down in various scenarios. 

    Coming to synthesis and analysis, some of the aforementioned issues pop-up once again. Depending on the type of materials/technology used in electric vehicles and the strategies adopted for its marketing and the sustaining of that market value and the related challenges that might come up, electric vehicles can be a problem or solution. When it comes to analyzing its effects, it’s evident that electric vehicles reduce carbon emissions but there might be other unintended effects that positively or negatively affect other factors. Again, extensive scientific data would be required to determine whether electric vehicles stands a chance as a long-term solution. What is evident is, in the long-term, this is an area that needs a lot of innovation and interventions and insights on how the antique collection and remodeling industry will affect the efforts to advance towards combating climate change, which would need strict regulation to keep an eye on the industry.