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Jun
06

Are electric cars good for the environment?

Posted by steph

We have all heard that electric is the way to go. Zero emissions, no waste products, totally green. Right? Well, maybe not. Yes, those electric cars do live up to the claims, but what about the big picture?

When someone drivs an electric car, they have to charge the car. Most people get their power from coal, not nuclear or other eco-friendly option power plants. Let’s say your home normally uses 200 kWh a month, caring your car will significantly increase that amount. Your power bill will increase, the demand you put on your local power station would increase as well. What if every one in your neighborhood decided to do the same thing?

If you are getting your power from nuclear, hydro or wind, that increase will have very little impact. What if you are getting your power from coal? The emissions would increase and the impact that you were trying to decrease, has once again increase.

What can be done:

  1. Find out what kind of power plants are in your area
  2. I f none are eco-friendly join forces with a group (or start one) that promotes cleaner power
  3. In the meantime, ony charge your car when power is at the least demand

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  1. EVcast Said,

    Actually, the national average from coal is just under 50%. Here is a great site to find out YOUR clean energy use: http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/how-clean.html

    Remember, that petrol (gas) alone will always burn 100% dirty. Also, electric engines are roughly 5 times more efficient. So even if you get 100% of your power from coal, you are causing only 20% of the pollution you would be with a gas car. For more on this, listen to the daily podcast at evcast.com (episode #8)

  2. Dave Said,

    The author has no idea. Even if your power plant is coal, the carbon foot print of charging your car vs using gas is very small. It’s almost as if he is saying ‘if you can’t get a zero carbon footprint, screw it, and use gas’. Makes no sense at all. ELECTRIC IS THE WAY TO GO. It will only improve like all electronic devices do.

  3. Tadashi Said,

    Even if we all were to switch to electric cars, which would be more then great for the environment and our pocket books, we should still and hopefully do switch to other ways of powering everything we use. There are alternatives we just need to use them. Sure there will be obstacles but I know we can get over them to make our world a healthier place. The reward is worth the battle!

  4. WillG Said,

    Great post! It is great to read about electric cars and how they are coming along.

    I read a great article titled, “Electric Car Finds its Niche” at http://economicefficiency.blogspot.com/2008/08/electric-car-finds-its-niche.html

    The article spells out why electric cars in London make sense.

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