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Can someone provide data showing how electric cars reduce emissions overall? Having something like this ready would help when discussing with people who are not

Can someone provide data showing how electric cars reduce emissions overall? Having something like this ready would help when discussing with people who are not sure of the benefits of EVs ("it still uses energy right?").

GlennS 10y ago
I haven't looked up the figures for you, but a lot of it is based on future decarbonisation of the electricity grid. Depends on which country you live in of course, but right now in most countries the carbon factors for petrol or diesel will be lower than those for electricity. Norway is probably an exception to this: it has lots of wind, lots of rivers, and lots of money.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
madengr 10y ago
Charging at night time uses base load, so greater proportion of nuclear power. Maximum efficieny of a gasoline engine is about 30%, versus 96% for an electric motor, though the battery does have less efficiency. Electricity generated at a power plant using fossil fuels and steam turbines is more efficient than locally in an engine. It's cheap to transport electricity over wires. Fuel still needs to be piped and trucked. So even if your electric car was powered by fossil fuels at the power plant, it's still more efficient.
- majewsky 10y ago
  If one strives to reduce emissions from their EV, it would be better to use a charger at the workplace when plenty of solar energy is available during the day.
  - ZeroGravitas 10y ago
    You can get chargers that connect to the internet and track the carbon content of your electricity on a minute by minute basis, allowing you to charge when it is best for the grid and for the planet.
btian 10y ago
The answer depends on source of electricity. I live in California and charge my Tesla with electricity from solar. The emission profile will look very different if electricity came from burning coal.
- astrange 10y ago
  Even in the worst case with coal: > In coal-fired Colorado, a gasoline car with fuel economy better than 35 miles per gallon will be better for emissions than the average electric car, according to calculations from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Does your gasoline car get better than 35 combined mpg…? Mine doesn't.
ZeroGravitas 10y ago
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/life-cycle-ev-emissions http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/life-... "Over their lifetime, battery electric vehicles produce far less global warming pollution than their gasoline counterparts—and they’re getting cleaner." The also have a tool that has info about specific car models and state by state grid carbon production: http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/ev-emissions-tool http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/ev-em... "Electric cars tend to produce less carbon pollution than gas-powered ones—but just how much less? Enter your ZIP code below to see how different types of vehicles stack up in your area. Entering a make, model, and year will narrow results to a specific EV model."

GlennS 10y ago

I haven't looked up the figures for you, but a lot of it is based on future decarbonisation of the electricity grid. Depends on which country you live in of course, but right now in most countries the carbon factors for petrol or diesel will be lower than those for electricity. Norway is probably an exception to this: it has lots of wind, lots of rivers, and lots of money.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

madengr 10y ago

Charging at night time uses base load, so greater proportion of nuclear power. Maximum efficieny of a gasoline engine is about 30%, versus 96% for an electric motor, though the battery does have less efficiency. Electricity generated at a power plant using fossil fuels and steam turbines is more efficient than locally in an engine. It's cheap to transport electricity over wires. Fuel still needs to be piped and trucked. So even if your electric car was powered by fossil fuels at the power plant, it's still more efficient.

majewsky 10y ago
If one strives to reduce emissions from their EV, it would be better to use a charger at the workplace when plenty of solar energy is available during the day.
- ZeroGravitas 10y ago
  You can get chargers that connect to the internet and track the carbon content of your electricity on a minute by minute basis, allowing you to charge when it is best for the grid and for the planet.

btian 10y ago

The answer depends on source of electricity. I live in California and charge my Tesla with electricity from solar. The emission profile will look very different if electricity came from burning coal.

astrange 10y ago
Even in the worst case with coal: > In coal-fired Colorado, a gasoline car with fuel economy better than 35 miles per gallon will be better for emissions than the average electric car, according to calculations from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Does your gasoline car get better than 35 combined mpg…? Mine doesn't.

ZeroGravitas 10y ago

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/life-cycle-ev-emissions http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/life-... "Over their lifetime, battery electric vehicles produce far less global warming pollution than their gasoline counterparts—and they’re getting cleaner." The also have a tool that has info about specific car models and state by state grid carbon production: http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/ev-emissions-tool http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/ev-em... "Electric cars tend to produce less carbon pollution than gas-powered ones—but just how much less? Enter your ZIP code below to see how different types of vehicles stack up in your area. Entering a make, model, and year will narrow results to a specific EV model."