Many students at Pleasant Valley High School that drive themselves to school usually get their parents’ hand me down car or even their older sibling’s car. Most teens don’t receive a brand new car because they are most likely to crash it within their first year of driving. Almost all of the cars that students drive are diesel and require gas to drive. Now, car companies are evolving and the production of electric cars are increasing.

Kayla Stevens, a senior at Pleasant Valley, stated “I don’t think I’ve seen a student come to school in an electric car. I think it’s a good idea that electric cars are increasing because not only does it save people money, it also saves the environment”. Word is traveling around about the evolution of these electric cars leading to many car companies to change their policies.

Porsche, a well known car company, is ending some of their production of diesel cars. Porsche has seized the production of Macan S Diesel and Panamera 4s Diesel. A Porsche spokesperson said it was due to a “cultural shift”.  Stevens stated, “Hopefully more car companies will follow in their footsteps because many people know Porsche and will think it is a good idea”.

Porsche is not the only car company that is contributing to this new fad, Mercedes Benz is also making changes to the production of their cars. Mercedes just released their first electric car and are now making adjustments to all their other cars. They plan to offer all versions of electric cars by 2022.  They are also trying to spread this production of electric cars throughout the world and have already reached success in two other countries, Germany and China.

Amy Showers, another senior at Pleasant Valley, said “I didn’t know that these car companies are producing more electric cars and I’m eager to see what positive impacts it will have on the environment”. What people don’t realize is how bad these diesel cars are actually hurting the environment. 80% of cars exceed the limit of nitrogen oxides and and some are even exceeding the limit by 25 times the amount.  

Not only are these cars harming the environment, but they are also affecting people’s health. Tens of thousands of individuals die prematurely due to pollution in the air. It affects the heart, lungs, the respiratory system and cardiovascular system. Diesel cars are one of the biggest ways the air is getting polluted is because it is one of the major types of pollutant that is ground level.

Hopefully with the evolution of electric cars increasing, air pollution and our health can improve. Showers also said, “I think with these two major car companies increasing the production of electric cars, more companies will follow. Maybe even one day students will start driving electric cars as they get more popular.”