| Personal transportation is important for our society. It is currently predominantly being accomplished through the use of gasoline, but climate change and fossil fuel depletion are increasingly forcing the world toward new means of energy storage and extraction for transportation, most notably hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and hydrogen vehicles. However, few studies have been done as of yet to show which of these particular options would be best overall, taking into account economic, social, and environmental costs, as well as political and technological viability.;To solve this problem, this paper compares the economic, social, environmental, political, and technological viability of gasoline and diesel cars to that of plug-in hybrid electric cars, electric cars, and hydrogen cars. Economic viability is assessed in 2013 USD. Environmental impacts are found using life cycle assessment, which results in various metrics that are then converted to 2013 USD. Technological viability is assessed qualitatively and by using various metrics that are not converted to dollars. Social and political viability are assessed qualitatively. |
