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We are constantly told that the mass produced electric car will soon be with us and many people argue that this means zero pollution.
Clearly these people overlook the fact that as most of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuel we are merely moving the pollution from the actual vehicle to the power station.
Has anybody actually carried out any research into how environmentally friendly electric cars are when all factors are taken into consideration? I do not know the answer but my instant gut reaction is that electric cars are probably worse polluters that petrol or diesel cars; it must be less efficient to convert oil into electricity and send it round the country to charge batteries for cars than simply burning it within the vehicle.
Answer
The answer really only depends on the GGE mileage of a given electric vehicle. On average electric plants emit 1.341 lbm CO2/kWh. Since the GGE is 36.3kWh, a GGE of electricity would emit 40.66 lbm CO2. This is in comparison to 19.6 lbm CO2/gal for gasoline. Divide this by the average mileage of the gasoline cars (20.8) and you get 0.94 lbm CO2/mile. Now to do better than this an electric car would need to go more than 43.4 miles on a GGE. Some quick research turned up that most vehicles did do better than this, except the Ford Ranger EV at 39 MPGGE.
The answer really only depends on the GGE mileage of a given electric vehicle. On average electric plants emit 1.341 lbm CO2/kWh. Since the GGE is 36.3kWh, a GGE of electricity would emit 40.66 lbm CO2. This is in comparison to 19.6 lbm CO2/gal for gasoline. Divide this by the average mileage of the gasoline cars (20.8) and you get 0.94 lbm CO2/mile. Now to do better than this an electric car would need to go more than 43.4 miles on a GGE. Some quick research turned up that most vehicles did do better than this, except the Ford Ranger EV at 39 MPGGE.
Is Hybrid Car and Electric Cars are really going to be Future as Success Story?
Electric cars and hybrid cars are need by us, but can they compete today's cars like in Speed, Power, Comfort, Looks?
Answer
That's the whole point of hybrids and electrics. It's easy to make an electric vehicles fast and powerful, just difficult for it to have range. The first cars to reach 60mph were electric cars. You could easily put in a thousand horsepower electric motor into a car but the batteries would be depleted very quickly. We've been able to make gas cars with 50mpg plus back in 1982 which is still better than what the modern hybrids get but they lacked speed and power, the addition of an electric motor making the efficient cars hybrids is what gives the power and performance that the consumer wants.
We really don't need hybrids and electric cars. We don't even need so many cars. If we were willing to accept the lackluster performance of the 1982 econoboxes then why enhance the performance with an electric motor? If we want the flexibility to change the fuel source from fossil to something clean like solar by using electric vehicles then why don't we just synthesize gasoline from CO2 and H2O with solar power? Synthesized fuels could even be carbon negative whilst an electric vehicle with solar generated electricity is at best carbon neutral
Ultimately, Hybrid and electric will be seen for what they are, marketing to create an additional market niche for new cars just like model years, tail fins, station wagons, minivans, SUV's and Flex Fuel cars. Measures that would actually make a difference such as changing how we make the gasoline just doesn't make the auto manufacturers any money.
That's the whole point of hybrids and electrics. It's easy to make an electric vehicles fast and powerful, just difficult for it to have range. The first cars to reach 60mph were electric cars. You could easily put in a thousand horsepower electric motor into a car but the batteries would be depleted very quickly. We've been able to make gas cars with 50mpg plus back in 1982 which is still better than what the modern hybrids get but they lacked speed and power, the addition of an electric motor making the efficient cars hybrids is what gives the power and performance that the consumer wants.
We really don't need hybrids and electric cars. We don't even need so many cars. If we were willing to accept the lackluster performance of the 1982 econoboxes then why enhance the performance with an electric motor? If we want the flexibility to change the fuel source from fossil to something clean like solar by using electric vehicles then why don't we just synthesize gasoline from CO2 and H2O with solar power? Synthesized fuels could even be carbon negative whilst an electric vehicle with solar generated electricity is at best carbon neutral
Ultimately, Hybrid and electric will be seen for what they are, marketing to create an additional market niche for new cars just like model years, tail fins, station wagons, minivans, SUV's and Flex Fuel cars. Measures that would actually make a difference such as changing how we make the gasoline just doesn't make the auto manufacturers any money.
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Title Post: How environmentally friendly is an electric car?
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Rating: 92% based on 925 ratings. 4 user reviews.
Author: Unknown
Thanks For Coming To My Blog
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