They compare the emissions of EVs vs ICE here: http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/electric-cars-green http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/electric-cars-green TL;DR Ele

They compare the emissions of EVs vs ICE here: http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/electric-cars-green http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/electric-cars-green TL;DR Electric cars’ carbon emissions can vary from similar to average petrol cars to less than half those of the best petrol hybrids. ( http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/electric-car-emissions http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/electric-car-emissions ) Right now, EVs in the US get the equivalent of ~40MPG when looking at emissions. So we're at 1987 Suzuki Forsa (39mpg combined) levels and not yet at 1986 Civic HF (46mpg combined) levels in the US. It also matters how much electricity you use. Driving 85mph in the left lane in a ~5300# Tesla X @0.24cd is surely using more power than a 1999 Honda Insight (1847# manual without AC, rated 61mpg highway, 0.25cd) or something driving in an attempt to "maximize range". Our progress in these areas does not impress me greatly. Here's US power generation by source: Coal = 33% Natural gas = 33% Nuclear = 20% Hydropower = 6% Other renewables = 7% Biomass = 1.6% Geothermal = 0.4% Solar = 0.6% Wind = 4.7% Petroleum = 1% Other gases = <1% https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=427&t=3 https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=427&t=3 Solar at 0.6% (in 2015) is a drop in the bucket. Manufacturing solar panels also requires electricity and rare elements. It also causes more pollution. We moved silicon manufacturing out of the Bay for the most part a long time ago, and got left with some EPA superfund sites because of it: https://www3.epa.gov/region9/cleanup/california.html https://www3.epa.gov/region9/cleanup/california.html Manufacturing lithium batteries is also pretty bad for the environment: http://www.theguardian.com/vital-signs/2015/jun/10/tesla-batteries-environment-lithium-elon-musk-powerwall http://www.theguardian.com/vital-signs/2015/jun/10/tesla-bat... In 30 years or so, it'll undoubtedly be a different picture, but for now, I consider EVs mostly greenwashing and a great effort by savvy manufacturers to sell more cars, especially to folks concerned with the environment. I don't deny that it has the potential to relocate pollution somewhat, but if we keep filling up the air we breathe with toxic gasses, it won't matter too much in the end. We need to drive a lot less in general.