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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_aspects_of_the_electric_car#Environmental_impact_of_manufacturing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_aspect

• tonyedgecombe 7y ago
  That table is interesting, it looks like we get the same benefits from switching to PHEV as going to full electric. I've always been slightly sceptical about the claims, just because the costs are so high. If you assume money is a reasonable proxy for energy then the high acquisition costs imply more emissions.
  • wongarsu 7y ago
    > If you assume money is a reasonable proxy for energy Everything points to money being a very poor proxy for energy. Part of our problem with climate change is that energy is usually one of the smallest contributors to cost, making incredibly wasteful supply chains economically preferable.
    • tonyedgecombe 7y ago
      Yet GDP per capita is strongly correlated with energy consumption: https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/figures/correlation-of-per-capita-energy https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/figures/correlation-...
• tialaramex 7y ago
  Note that in small print that table assumes 500g/kWh which is _very high_. If your electrical grid was entirely supplied by mediocre natural gas power plants (no hydro, no nuclear, no solar, no wind, nothing like that) you'd do 500g/kWh. Anywhere doing worse than that is burning coal, or as in Ireland, peat to make power, which is totally crazy independent of whether you have electric cars. Put a bunch of hydro, nukes, solar or wind in the mix and you're rapidly down to 200 or 300 gCO2/kWh. Nobody's ambition for 2030 ought to be as high as 500 gCO2/kWh electricity, if that's what you're expecting we're screwed.