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I actually did the math on this once, believe it or not. Based on where I live (fairly high carbon emissions from our local utility, though they have deployed m
by firebird84 6y ago
I actually did the math on this once, believe it or not.
Based on where I live (fairly high carbon emissions from our local utility, though they have deployed more solar recently), switching to an all-electric car would have roughly the same effect carbon-wise as moving to a 60mpg car. YMMV.
My math may not be perfect, but it seems that while not a perfect solution, switching to electric cars DOES improve efficiency somewhat carbon-wise. I'm on the side of not letting perfect become the enemy of good.
- RussianCow 6y agoDoes this factor in the emissions cost of producing a new car? Because a common counter-argument to switching to EVs is that the environmental cost of the new car far outweighs any gains from increased efficiency, at least for many years.
- npsimons 6y agoEmissions from production are miniscule compared to emissions from use: https://youtu.be/K9m9WDxmSN8 https://youtu.be/K9m9WDxmSN8
- Weebs 6y agoIf they're in an area with a higher number of renewables, then possibly yes. I live in an area that gets about half of its power from nuclear, and the other half from hydrocarbons. When I did my research I estimated over a lifespan of some ~150k miles, a Model 3's carbon production would be roughly equivalent to a 43mpg vehicle assuming the grid stays the same. As the grid introduces more renewables, that number continues to climb. I haven't checked on this in a while, but the most energy intensive portion of overall production seemed to be the treatment of batteries during their production. Development for an alternative to the current treatment process to use significantly less energy seemed promising
- npsimons 6y agoYour math is backed up by others' math: https://youtu.be/6RhtiPefVzM https://youtu.be/6RhtiPefVzM https://youtu.be/K9m9WDxmSN8 https://youtu.be/K9m9WDxmSN8