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Depending on where you get the electricity to charge your Tesla it could be worse than oil. But seeing as Norway gets almost all of it's electricity from renewa

Depending on where you get the electricity to charge your Tesla it could be worse than oil. But seeing as Norway gets almost all of it's electricity from renewable energy that's not the case there.

toomuchtodo 8y ago
There is no electrical generation source that is worse than oil, for any electric car. Only 12-30% [1] (EDIT: replaced 1% after correction from nradov) of energy makes it to the wheels when burning petroleum to propel a vehicle forward. Your electric car will get cleaner over time (90-95% of new generation coming online each year are renewables), your petrol vehicle will burn petrol forever. [1] https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/atv.shtml https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/atv.shtml
- nradov 8y ago
  You're way off. Modern cars turn about 30% of the energy in gasoline into forward motion. However, electric cars do have a lower carbon impact in almost all cases.
- 2trill2spill 8y ago
  > There is no electrical generation source that is worse than oil, for any electric car. Only 1% of energy makes it to the wheels when burning petroleum to propel a vehicle forward. What? You say "there is no electrical generation source that is worse than oil" then say "Only 1% of energy makes it to the wheels when burning petroleum to propel a vehicle forward." A gasoline powered car is not an electrical generation source so I'm sure what your saying, especially because coal is a much dirtier source for generating electricity. Also a quick google search shows that gasoline powered vehicles have a tank to wheel efficiency around 16%[1][2] which is much higher then the 1% you stated. And my original point was, If a electric vehicle is being charged from a dirty source like a coal plant then it can be more polluting then driving an efficient petroleum car. Coal is more polluting then Oil when burned and converting the heat to electricity is a huge hit to efficiency. Only about 30% of the energy from coal is turned into electricity. Plus you have transmission loss from getting the electricity from the power plant to the EV. [1]: https://cleantechnica.com/2018/03/10/electric-car-myth-buster-efficiency/ https://cleantechnica.com/2018/03/10/electric-car-myth-buste... [2]: https://matter2energy.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/wells-to-wheels-electric-car-efficiency/ https://matter2energy.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/wells-to-whee...
  - rascul 8y ago
    > A gasoline powered car is not an electrical generation source Just a minor thing, and doesn't change your point, but have you considered that cars have alternators which use the turning of the engine to generate electricity?
rcMgD2BwE72F 8y ago
Even though Norway is the perfect country where it makes sense to go full EV, few countries would gains from switching to electric (even from coal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_long_tailpipe#Carbon_footprint_in_selected_countries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_long_tailpipe#Carbon_footp... And all grids get greener every year. And this accelerates, so your argument gets weaker over time.

Depending on where you get the electricity to charge your Tesla it could be worse than oil. But seeing as Norway gets almost all of it's electricity from renewable energy that's not the case there.

toomuchtodo 8y ago

There is no electrical generation source that is worse than oil, for any electric car. Only 12-30% [1] (EDIT: replaced 1% after correction from nradov) of energy makes it to the wheels when burning petroleum to propel a vehicle forward. Your electric car will get cleaner over time (90-95% of new generation coming online each year are renewables), your petrol vehicle will burn petrol forever. [1] https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/atv.shtml https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/atv.shtml

nradov 8y ago
You're way off. Modern cars turn about 30% of the energy in gasoline into forward motion. However, electric cars do have a lower carbon impact in almost all cases.
2trill2spill 8y ago
> There is no electrical generation source that is worse than oil, for any electric car. Only 1% of energy makes it to the wheels when burning petroleum to propel a vehicle forward. What? You say "there is no electrical generation source that is worse than oil" then say "Only 1% of energy makes it to the wheels when burning petroleum to propel a vehicle forward." A gasoline powered car is not an electrical generation source so I'm sure what your saying, especially because coal is a much dirtier source for generating electricity. Also a quick google search shows that gasoline powered vehicles have a tank to wheel efficiency around 16%[1][2] which is much higher then the 1% you stated. And my original point was, If a electric vehicle is being charged from a dirty source like a coal plant then it can be more polluting then driving an efficient petroleum car. Coal is more polluting then Oil when burned and converting the heat to electricity is a huge hit to efficiency. Only about 30% of the energy from coal is turned into electricity. Plus you have transmission loss from getting the electricity from the power plant to the EV. [1]: https://cleantechnica.com/2018/03/10/electric-car-myth-buster-efficiency/ https://cleantechnica.com/2018/03/10/electric-car-myth-buste... [2]: https://matter2energy.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/wells-to-wheels-electric-car-efficiency/ https://matter2energy.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/wells-to-whee...
- rascul 8y ago
  > A gasoline powered car is not an electrical generation source Just a minor thing, and doesn't change your point, but have you considered that cars have alternators which use the turning of the engine to generate electricity?

rcMgD2BwE72F 8y ago

Even though Norway is the perfect country where it makes sense to go full EV, few countries would gains from switching to electric (even from coal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_long_tailpipe#Carbon_footprint_in_selected_countries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_long_tailpipe#Carbon_footp... And all grids get greener every year. And this accelerates, so your argument gets weaker over time.