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>the pollution won't be much of an issue Depends. In St. Louis, for example, a fully electric vehicle produces the same pollution (via the power plant) as a 36
by superuser2 11y ago
>the pollution won't be much of an issue
Depends. In St. Louis, for example, a fully electric vehicle produces the same pollution (via the power plant) as a 36mpg car [0]. That's about in line with a highly-rated compact like the Golf or Mazda3 these days.
Electric vehicles give us the capability to reduce emissions by building cleaner electrical infrastructure, but that does not mean we will do so.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_long_tailpipe#Carbon_footprint_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_long_tailpipe#Carbon_footp...
- epistasis 11y agoIn a few decades St Louis won't have such crappy energy sources, and if they do, their electricity prices will be sky high because they made poor decisions. Additionally, pollution concentrations matter for cities, specifically dumping the exhaust out right next to people vs. dumping it at remote locations where it has more area to dilute before encountering people. The long tail pipe hypothesis seems to be a bunch of people trying to desperately prove that electric cars are no better, but they have to resort to extreme cases to try to justify their positions. 36mpg which pollutants? Certainly not all them. CO2 from pure coal is something like a 50 mpg car. And as we get rid of these inferior and more expensive sources of electricity, electric cars will only increase their lead over gas vehicles.