By: Sophia Powell

Electric Cars: As you may know electric cars don’t require gas to function, instead they have a battery that they run off of that is mostly powered by electricity. Most electric cars can run for 250 miles before needing to be recharged, cars like Tesla’s can run for more than 350 miles. But, if you’re planning on driving long distances, an electric car may not be the best option for you. Some advantages to electric cars can be; they’re better for the environment, less maintenance compared to gas powered cars, and they provide better performance. Some disadvantages to electric cars are since the “going green” movement with cars is still relatively new there aren’t that many charging stations around the U.S. Other disadvantages include rare metals required for the battery, they can be pretty expensive ranging from $50,000-$55,000,  they can also take up to 8 hours to fully charge causing a big inconvenience.

Gas Cars: On the other hand, gas cars can possibly be a better alternative for some. For example, a gas car with a 20 gallon gas tank can travel up to 400 miles before needing to be refueled, making them better for long distance travels. Advantages to gas cars are; gas stations are all over the world so you probably don’t have to worry too much about running out of gas and not having a gas station nearby, gas car parts are much easier to use and fix compared to electric cars, and it only takes a few short minutes to refuel a gas tank rather than 8 hours like the electric car. Even though there’s many advantages there are also many disadvantages like the cost of fuel can be very expensive, in Florida the average cost of gas is $3.28 a gallon for regular. Some other disadvantages are most electric cars are safer than gas cars because if a gas car’s engine malfunctions it could blow up. Gas cars are also very bad for the environment because the gas is burning into the atmosphere causing global warming and tons of other issues.

Which would be a better purchase?: There is  no real answer to this question but as of right now it is much cheaper to own an electric car rather than a gas car. According to greenenergyconsumers.org, “A 2018 study from the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute found the average cost to operate an EV in the U.S. was $485 per year compared with a gasoline-powered vehicle at $1,117.” This means, you can save up to $632 a year by not spending money on gas almost everyday. But this can possibly change soon because gas prices have gone up an awful lot recently and may be going back down in the near future.