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Depends on the pollutants you're looking at. From a CO2/efficiency standpoint, you're correct. A modern EV powered purely by coal power plants puts out less CO

Depends on the pollutants you're looking at. From a CO2/efficiency standpoint, you're correct. A modern EV powered purely by coal power plants puts out less CO2 than a gasoline car, largely because of the efficiency difference between large power plants and ICE. From a SO2/NO2 standpoint, EVs powered by coal would be far far worse, assuming gasoline. Gas/Diesel these days is ultra low sulfur, which reduces SO2 significantly. The only remaining issue is NO2, which is why the catalytic converter is there. The only caveat is Diesel. Diesel engines, especially older ones, are pretty horrid things. It's only in the last couple of year have we started to get the particulate under control with DPFs, and the NOx issue remains very difficult to fix cheaply (see: VW). Chances are any diesel engines running in a place like China will be old and lack both DPFs and Urea based NOx control systems. I am uncertain as to whether old diesel trucks or coal power plants produce more NOx.

olivermarks 8y ago
IMO hybrid is the way to go for transport. I live in an earthquake prone area where a power cut would equal limited range one way or no transport when I most needed it if I only had an EV. Modern ICE are amazingly sophisticated, EV in comparison have limited range, potential polluting issues, battery creation rare earth component scarcity issues and a massive dead battery disposal problem. We'll get there with a grid and more practical EV's but we're not there yet
- JoshCole 8y ago
  Might want to refresh your information about electric vehicles. Nissan Leaf era range is no longer the status quo. Tesla has vehicles with 300+ miles of range and other auto manufacturer are now planning to release or releasing 200+ mile range vehicles. Charging times are also not a problem. In my experience, I can handle my daily commute without doing anything special whatsoever. Super convenient. Just get home and plug in and never worry about range at all. Total cost of ownership of an EV is getting close to a tipping point where EV is a better deal than electric. One thing pushing that way is the many moving parts of ICE vehicles leading to more maintenance needed. Another is that modern car batteries are turning out to have longevity much higher than what was projected by critics (early Tesla cars still have 90% of initial battery capacity). Another is that the cost per mile in terms of energy is an order of magnitude cheaper. The only thing really stopping electric is that people have been wary to invest heavily in the factories that were necessary to produce the economies of scale that would lower the price. Since Tesla has done that, prices are dropping and everyone else is being forced to follow. ICE vehicles are losing market share, because the more practical EVs you mentioned are already here.
- FrojoS 8y ago
  At most gas stations, the pump won’t work during a power outage. https://www.google.ch/amp/s/www.simplemost.com/gas-stations-pump-without-electricity/amp/ https://www.google.ch/amp/s/www.simplemost.com/gas-stations-... With an EV, if you are not driving already, your car will likely be almost fully charged at your home or office while the earthquake strikes. You will then have about 300 miles of driving to a place with power.
ben_w 8y ago
Does it produce less CO2 than a coal plant? Yes big plants are more efficient than ICEs, but petrol and diesel have a lot of energy in hydrogen bonds, whereas coal is almost pure carbon, so I’d expect the CO2 emissions for a coal plant to be worse despite the efficiency boost.
- village-idiot 8y ago
  Gasoline engines top out at about 50% efficiency these days, but the average car does much worse. That’s not even including losses from the transmission, etc. According to the 2015 DOE analysis, the wheel to wheel emissions from EVs was less than half that of ICE cars. Even in WV, a coal heavy state, EVs produced less emissions than gasoline cars. https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-950-november-7-2016-well-wheel-emissions-typical-ev-state-2015 https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-950-november-7-201...

olivermarks 8y ago

IMO hybrid is the way to go for transport. I live in an earthquake prone area where a power cut would equal limited range one way or no transport when I most needed it if I only had an EV. Modern ICE are amazingly sophisticated, EV in comparison have limited range, potential polluting issues, battery creation rare earth component scarcity issues and a massive dead battery disposal problem. We'll get there with a grid and more practical EV's but we're not there yet

JoshCole 8y ago
Might want to refresh your information about electric vehicles. Nissan Leaf era range is no longer the status quo. Tesla has vehicles with 300+ miles of range and other auto manufacturer are now planning to release or releasing 200+ mile range vehicles. Charging times are also not a problem. In my experience, I can handle my daily commute without doing anything special whatsoever. Super convenient. Just get home and plug in and never worry about range at all. Total cost of ownership of an EV is getting close to a tipping point where EV is a better deal than electric. One thing pushing that way is the many moving parts of ICE vehicles leading to more maintenance needed. Another is that modern car batteries are turning out to have longevity much higher than what was projected by critics (early Tesla cars still have 90% of initial battery capacity). Another is that the cost per mile in terms of energy is an order of magnitude cheaper. The only thing really stopping electric is that people have been wary to invest heavily in the factories that were necessary to produce the economies of scale that would lower the price. Since Tesla has done that, prices are dropping and everyone else is being forced to follow. ICE vehicles are losing market share, because the more practical EVs you mentioned are already here.
FrojoS 8y ago
At most gas stations, the pump won’t work during a power outage. https://www.google.ch/amp/s/www.simplemost.com/gas-stations-pump-without-electricity/amp/ https://www.google.ch/amp/s/www.simplemost.com/gas-stations-... With an EV, if you are not driving already, your car will likely be almost fully charged at your home or office while the earthquake strikes. You will then have about 300 miles of driving to a place with power.

ben_w 8y ago

Does it produce less CO2 than a coal plant? Yes big plants are more efficient than ICEs, but petrol and diesel have a lot of energy in hydrogen bonds, whereas coal is almost pure carbon, so I’d expect the CO2 emissions for a coal plant to be worse despite the efficiency boost.

village-idiot 8y ago
Gasoline engines top out at about 50% efficiency these days, but the average car does much worse. That’s not even including losses from the transmission, etc. According to the 2015 DOE analysis, the wheel to wheel emissions from EVs was less than half that of ICE cars. Even in WV, a coal heavy state, EVs produced less emissions than gasoline cars. https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-950-november-7-2016-well-wheel-emissions-typical-ev-state-2015 https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-950-november-7-201...