Have you ever spent time in a big city that has replaced large numbers of traditional vehicles powered by fossil fuels with electric ones? The difference is stark. For example, you can chat on the sidewalk without yelling over traffic noise or feeling sick from gas fumes.

  The more a society gets rid of internal combustion engines, the more it increases its residents’ quality of life by reducing local air and noise pollution. And the fewer fossil fuels that are burned, the less carbon is released into the atmosphere, reducing humanity’s contribution to climate change.

The future of cars

  The shift away from fossil fuels is well underway. Now the big question is what kind of vehicle will become the car of the future. There are two main competitors for the green-vehicle crown: battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs) and hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs).

  Electric vehicles run on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles make their own electricity in a fuel cell that draws hydrogen from a refillable tank and transforms it into electricity. Both run quietly and produce almost no harmful emissions. Which is better? That’s up for debate.