Switching to electric cars will not improve the environment, despite

Question

Competition Mode Question

Switching to electric cars will not improve the environment, despite the fact that such cars produce no harmful emissions. The electricity to run them world still need to be generated from power plants, the majority of which burn such fossil fuels as coal, oil and natural gas. Any reduction in fossil fuel demand at gas stations resulting from the replacement of internal combustion engines with electric ones would be reversed by a commensurate demand for more energy from our nation’s power plants.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument?

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument?

A. The nation’s power grid would need a massive restructuring if it is to generate the energy needed to power vehicles that run on electicity.

B. Electric vehicles are significantly more energy-efficient than their gasoline powered counterparts.

C. Coal is a far less environmentally-friendly way to generate energy than is natural gas.

D. Studies indicate that most drivers would be reluctant to switch from gasoline –powered to electric vehicles.

E. Hybrid vehicles offer a more practical short-term alternative than do vehicles that run solely on electricity.

NiftyNiffler · Answer

Switching to electric cars will not improve the environment, despite the fact that such cars produce no harmful emissions. The electricity to run them world still need to be generated from power plants, the majority of which burn such fossil fuels as coal, oil and natural gas. Any reduction in fossil fuel demand at gas stations resulting from the replacement of internal combustion engines with electric ones would be reversed by a commensurate demand for more energy from our nation’s power plants.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument?

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument?

A. The nation’s power grid would need a massive restructuring if it is to generate the energy needed to power vehicles that run on electricity.  -- Irrelevant. Doesn't mean that power plants won't restructure the power grid if there are significant benefits.

B. Electric vehicles are significantly more energy-efficient than their gasoline powered counterparts.  -- CORRECT, this says that even though initial costs of both fossil fuel cars and electric-powered cars are same, the latter will cause less emissions, hence overall impact on environment is less.
 
C. Coal is a far less environmentally-friendly way to generate energy than is natural gas.  -- We don't need the comparison among various types of fossil fuels. IRRELEVANT
 
D. Studies indicate that most drivers would be reluctant to switch from gasoline –powered to electric vehicles.  -- Strengthens the conclusion

E. Hybrid vehicles offer a more practical short-term alternative than do vehicles that run solely on electricity.  -- Out-of-scope, Doesn't take fossil-fueled cars into account.

So, IMO, it's  B

jaisonsunny77 · Answer

Electric cars --> no emission, but needs electricity supply from traditional power plants 
Electric car introduction into the market ---> other non-electric cars will be replaced --> less demand for fuel at gas stations.

But, (decrease in demand of fuel at gas stations) is far less than the ( resulting increase in energy produced from traditional power plants to supply power to these electric cars).

So, the conclusion is: switching to electric cars will NOT IMPROVE the environment.

We have been asked to weaken this conclusion.    So, we need to look for an answer choice that introduces some sort of benefit (or advantage) that the environment will experience, by using electric cars.

Let's try to find out which among these 5 answer choices introduces such a benefit.

A.  The nation’s power grid would need a massive restructuring if it is to generate the energy needed to power vehicles that run on electricity.  - In the context of this passage, we are interested in analyzing the impact of certain options on the environment. (A) talks about restructuring the power grid. would the restructure result in more emissions? or less emissions? this point is not made clear and hence (A) does nothing to weaken the conclusion.  Hence, eliminate (A)

B.  Electric vehicles are significantly more energy-efficient than their gasoline powered counterparts.   - electric cars depend on power generated from fossil fuel powered power plants; non-electric cars depend directly on gasoline fuel, which is derived from fossils. Hence, both electric and non-electric cars depend on fossil fuels, one way or an other.

What (B) tells us is that electric vehicles are more energy efficient than gasoline powered counterparts. Better energy efficiency means that the electric car is able to produce more output (drive more distance) or drive for longer duration on a single recharge than what a gasoline car would be able to after a single refueling session.  electric cars would therefore have to be "refueled" less often  as compared to the gasoline powered cars; this means that the generation of the energy supplied to electric cars has less of an impact (because of lower frequency of supply) on the environment than that caused by the energy supplied to the gasoline cars (for comparable distances driven). Hence, electric cars have less of a negative impact on the environment than do gasoline powered cars. For this reason,   I think that (B) is the correct answer.

C.  Coal is a far less environmentally-friendly way to generate energy than is natural gas.  - this is literally a coal v/s natural gas comparison, a comparison that has no bearing on the consequence of using electric cars. Hence,  (C) is eliminated. 
 
D.  Studies indicate that most drivers would be reluctant to switch from gasoline –powered to electric vehicles.  - even if drivers may not end up purchasing electric cars, the truth of this fact does nothing to weaken the idea that "Electric cars wont have any benefit (improvement) on the environment". For this reason,  (D) is eliminated.
 
E.  Hybrid vehicles offer a more practical short-term alternative than do vehicles that run solely on electricity.  - irrelevant since the passage is not concerned with hybrid vehicles. Hence,  (E) is eliminated.

ArunSharma12 · Answer

Premise: any reduction in fossil fuels will be compensated by the increase in demand of fossil fuels by the power plants.
conclusion: switching to electric cars will not improve the environment.

A. The nation’s power grid would need a massive restructuring if it is to generate the energy needed to power vehicles that run on electricity.
 if the power plants are restructured then we can not say that they will consume the same amount of fossil fuels

B. Electric vehicles are significantly more energy-efficient than their gasoline powered counterparts.
 This can be inferred from the passage. this does not question the argument

C. Coal is a far less environmentally-friendly way to generate energy than is natural gas.
 it slightly supports the conclusion as coal is used to generate electricity

D. Studies indicate that most drivers would be reluctant to switch from gasoline –powered to electric vehicles.
 conclusion deals with if we switch it'll not have a positive effect on environment

E. Hybrid vehicles offer a more practical short-term alternative than do vehicles that run solely on electricity.
 this also does not question the argument. in the short term it might not need the same amount of energy to be produced from power plants but it remains a short term plan 
Ans: A

exc4libur · Answer

arg
=switch from gas to elec wont improv envir
=elec will consume same that gas consumed

wkn
ans (B) elec vehicles will consume less energy than gas

MayankSingh · Answer

IMO B

Conclusion : Switching to electric cars will not improve the environment, despite the fact that such cars produce no harmful emissions.
Premise: Any reduction in fossil fuel demand at gas stations resulting from the replacement of internal combustion engines with electric ones would be reversed by a commensurate demand for more energy from our nation’s power plants. ( In short: Fossil fuel use reduce in cars but increase at power station . Net change=0)

Only Option B makes sense.
Electric vehicles are significantly more energy-efficient than their gasoline powered counterparts.

Since, Electric cars are efficient--> So for same distance traveled, Electric Consumption less--> Electricity required less---> fossil fuel burned less--> Emission less

800Dreamer · Answer

We need to show that still there can be a case where using electric vehicles is better. 
Only B shows this

B)

naveenban · Answer

Switching to electric cars will not improve the environment, despite the fact that such cars produce no harmful emissions. The electricity to run them world still need to be generated from power plants, the majority of which burn such fossil fuels as coal, oil and natural gas. Any reduction in fossil fuel demand at gas stations resulting from the replacement of internal combustion engines with electric ones would be reversed by a commensurate demand for more energy from our nation’s power plants.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument?

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument?

Conclusion - Switching to electric cars will not improve the environment because any reduction in fossil fuel demand at gas stations resulting from the replacement of internal combustion engines with electric ones would be reversed by a commensurate demand for more energy.

A. The nation’s power grid would need a massive restructuring if it is to generate the energy needed to power vehicles that run on electicity. -  Irrelevant - Talks about Power Plant Restructuring. We are concerned with how Switching to electric cars will improve the environment.

B. Electric vehicles are significantly more energy-efficient than their gasoline powered counterparts. -  So Less Fossil Fuel demand for the power plant. Could be the answer.

C. Coal is a far less environmentally-friendly way to generate energy than is natural gas. - Irrelevant -  We aren't comparing Fossil fuels, but how their demand could be reduced.

D. Studies indicate that most drivers would be reluctant to switch from gasoline –powered to electric vehicles. -  In a way it strengthens the conclusion by providing another difficulty for Electric Powered vehicles Demand.

E. Hybrid vehicles offer a more practical short-term alternative than do vehicles that run solely on electricity. -  Irrelevant - Passage doesn't talks about Hybrid Vehicle.

Correct Answer - B

chaitralirr · Answer

Switching to electric cars will not improve the environment, despite the fact that such cars produce no harmful emissions. The electricity to run them world still need to be generated from power plants, the majority of which burn such fossil fuels as coal, oil and natural gas. Any reduction in fossil fuel demand at gas stations resulting from the replacement of internal combustion engines with electric ones would be reversed by a commensurate demand for more energy from our nation’s power plants.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument?

Stimulus: As per the author switching to electric cars will not improve the environment despite these have no emissions. The electricity to run the vehicles needs to be generated by fossil fuels. So if we see electric cars means more fuel of country is burning. IMO B states that the cars running on electricity are fuel efficient and so less consumption of natural resources

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument?

A. The nation’s power grid would need a massive restructuring if it is to generate the energy needed to power vehicles that run on electricity.

B. Electric vehicles are significantly more energy-efficient than their gasoline powered counterparts.

C. Coal is a far less environmentally-friendly way to generate energy than is natural gas.

D. Studies indicate that most drivers would be reluctant to switch from gasoline –powered to electric vehicles.

E. Hybrid vehicles offer a more practical short-term alternative than do vehicles that run solely on electricity.

Switching to electric cars will not improve the environment, despite

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Switching to electric cars will not improve the environment, despite

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards