Replies

“EV’s require electricity. Where does electricity come from? 98% comes from coal, oil, nat gas or nuclear. How is environment being saved? Transferring exhaust gases from city to the nearby power plant is solving the problem?”

Posting your comment in blue does not turn false statements into true ones.

In 2013, energy sources and percent share of total electricity generation were:

Coal 39%
Natural Gas 27%
Nuclear 19%
Hydropower 7%
Other Renewable 6% (Biomass 1.48%, Geothermal 0.41%, Solar 0.23%, Wind 4.13%)
Petroleum 1%
Other Gases < 1%

Therefore coal + oil + nat gas + nuclear is 86%. Not that this total matters anyway, since natural gas and nuclear are pretty clean. Coal is the only real problem. “Oil” refers to backup diesel generation and represents less than 1% of electricity generation.

In summary, only 40% comes from “dirty” sources. Unless you live in the heart of coal country and get much more than 40% of your electricity from coal, then yes, EVs will be cleaner.

“All EV owners will get a sticker shock when batteries need replacing. I understand disposal of used batteries is a serious problem also.”

Nah, lithium ion batteries in cars are much different than the ones in your smartphone and laptop. Although the Nissan Leaf had problems early on, EV batteries in general have maintained their capacity quite well over time. The Chevy Volt's battery, for example, is pampered in such a way (controlled state of charge window, liquid-cooled temperature regulation) that after four years on the road they have seen virtually no capacity loss. Regarding disposal, EV batteries are often re-used as stationary power storage for solar panels and, beyond that, lithium ion can be recycled indefinitely.

You are bifurcating from my main point. Splitting hair on numbers is a response liberals use. Again my main point is, why is it better to burn oil in a power plant than burning it in a EV? Burning natural gas creates as much CO2 as burning oil.

Finally, gasoline powered powered cars are much more economical than EV's are at this time. Here is a car I bought new in 2008. I drove it out of the dealership for $9900 by using various discounts and credits. It gives me 33 MPG in city driving and 40 MPG on highway driving. It has a range of 350 miles in combined driving on a tank full. It requires no expensive battery replacements. Best of all, in 7 years of driving, it has never failed. It still has original battery after 6+ years!

COAL PWR

TREE FDR