THINKING ABOUT BUYING AN ELECTRIC CAR?

YOU MIGHT WANT TO RETHINK 

Electric Cars Can Create More Carbon Dioxide Emissions Than Gas Cars

 

An auto blog (http://www.autointheknow.com/electric-cars-can-create-more-emissions-than-gas-cars/ ) recently summarized a British study finding that electric cars may not necessarily reduce carbon dioxide emissions:

Electric cars can create higher emissions over the car’s lifetime than their gasoline-powered equivalent, partly due to the pollution created from the factories that manufacture electric car batteries…

The study found that while in the past, tailpipe emissions have been used as the main measure of an electric car’s carbon footprint, when the emissions from the car’s total lifespan are taken into consideration, including the car’s production and disposal, some of the CO2 savings made from driving the car are offset. The study contends that “overall electric and hybrid vehicles still have lower carbon footprints than normal cars.”

The study found that compared with 24 metric tons for a gasoline-powered car, a mid-size electric car produces 23.1 metric tons of CO2 over its lifetime. But an electric car would have to drive about 80,000 miles before it would start saving more CO2 than a gasoline-powered car. Many electric cars will never reach 80,000 miles in their lifetime[;] electric cars get less than 90 miles on a charge, so they’re typically driven only short distances…Additionally, electric car batteries must be replaced after about four years. When the emissions connected with replacement batteries are added in, the total CO2 from producing an electric car increases to 12.6 metric tons, compared with 5.6 metric tons for a conventional car. Because recovering and recycling the metals in the battery consumes a great deal of energy, disposal produces double the emissions.

We may be witnessing the beginning of a process similar to what happened with ethanol: Initially beloved by environmentalists, ethanol soon fell into disfavor once people took into account the full consequences of turning food into fuel.  Not to mention the fact that don't run worth a crap on it and get worse mileage to boot.

Why Don’t Consumers Like Electric Vehicles?

The simple fact is that electric cars right now are very inconvenient compared to gas-powered cars. Consider the journal entry of the BBC’s Brian Milligan who recently drove an electric car from London to Scotland, charging it only at public stations:

It took 4 days, some serious thermal underwear, and copious amounts of waiting.  But my electric car and I finally made it to Edinburgh.
There were plenty of nervous moments, and a rather low-key entry to the Scottish capital. After all, I was driving at 30mph and was shivering with cold.
On the last leg I’d got suddenly over-confident, and had a serious dose of range anxiety.
It has been a slow journey but Brian and the mini finally made it to Edinburgh. At one point my range indicator showed 48 miles charge left on my battery, with 50 miles still to go. Hence the slow speed, and the lack of heater.
Including the time spent both charging and driving, I managed an average speed between London and Edinburgh of just 6mph.

With reports such as these, we can see why electric vehicles need a shot in the arm from a carbon tax or other government policy.

I think I'll stick with gasoline and diesel for a few more years.