[jiggyboy]

Since electricity is generated mostly by burning coal, has anyone calculated how much pollution is created by electric cars, even though none of that pollution comes out of their tailpipes?

Many people, many times. One giant, incredibly regulated coal burner versus thousands of tiny individual gasoline burners? Best to pretend you never brought this one up Thomas.

[Bob]

Many people, many times.

Happen to have a good link for that?

[Sunnyflorida]

Let’s see the main “greenhouse gas” from internal combustion engines is CO2 which is used ravenously by plants and is the key to most life on this planet. Meanwhile lead, zinc, etc are the byproducts of BATTERY cars.

http://www.earthscienceworld.org/images/search/results.html?Keyword=Superfund

[lepton]

Many people, many times. One giant, incredibly regulated coal burner versus thousands of tiny individual gasoline burners?

Is the central power plant more efficient? Yes, in general. ...But there's more to the argument. Electric cars are promoted as being completely non-polluting, wheras they are not - their pollution simply takes place elsewhere. Once you add that in, the pollution difference is small enough that the cost difference starts to become more clearly important.