Eco-Friendly Emissions: Electric Cars Pollute the Air Too

The mighty electric car, a symbol of environmental virtue and 21st-century progressivism, turns out not to be as squeaky clean as it seems. Recent studies have shown: even if there’s no internal combustion engine under the hood, the air only gets cleaner in marketing legends.

The real culprits are… tires and brakes. Every time they wear down at the traffic lights in the race for dominance among neighboring Teslas, they release tons of microscopic particles into the atmosphere. As it turns out, these particles are no better than exhaust fumes—sometimes even worse: once in the lungs, they behave like a mother-in-law at the dacha—annoying, irritating, and refusing to leave on their own.

Paradoxically, electric cars—with their hefty weight (their batteries weigh as much as a good Turkish carpet)—wear down tires even faster than their gasoline counterparts. In the end, instead of a clean future, we get a slightly modernized version of the same old environmental problems.

We can only hope that future generations will ride on magnetic cushions. For now—enjoy your “green” car and breathe deeply… or at least through a mask.