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In reply to the discussion: Shocking Factoid of the Day: Gas cars use more electricity to go 100 miles than Electric Cars do! [View all]lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)49. It all depends on where you live.
The amount of pollution created by electric vehicles depends mostly on the source of the electricity used to charge them. This makes it impossible to determine if electric vehicles pollute less than internal combustion engine vehicles without considering where they are to be deployed and by what sources of electricity they are to be powered. An electric vehicle that is charged with energy from a clean source, like hydroelectric power, will produce very little pollution, while one charged with energy from an unclean source, like coal or oil, may produce more pollution than an internal combustion engine vehicle. The sources of energy for most regions fall somewhere between these two extremes. The use of electric vehicles will allow new possibilities in pollution control and management that may outweigh some of their potentia.l failings. While not ready to be used everywhere, electric vehicles have the potential to pollute much less than internal combustion engine vehicles.
http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/writing/Samples/policy/voytishlong.html
The image you posted (which I can't reconcile with the link) appears to arbitrarily limits the fossil fuel consumed to petroleum. It is irrelevant to the argument I proposed. Of course an EV burns little petroleum since very few electric generating facilities use it. I could as easily make a really convincing looking graphic showing how much more environmentally friendly a gasoline car is because it uses so little coal.
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Shocking Factoid of the Day: Gas cars use more electricity to go 100 miles than Electric Cars do! [View all]
grahamhgreen
Feb 2012
OP
That energy is already calculated in the energy it takes to build the vehicles, building an electric
grahamhgreen
Feb 2012
#2
No, the fact that it will take about as much energy to make a gas guzzler as an EV is common sense
grahamhgreen
Feb 2012
#22
I'm pretty sure the batteries are not made on site but by battery manufacturers and then shipped for
Lionessa
Feb 2012
#7
That's true for a great many components of automobiles, the majority in fact..
Fumesucker
Feb 2012
#11
Correct. Prius batteries travel a great distance before placement into the cars themselves.
cherokeeprogressive
Feb 2012
#18
About the same thing that happens with the oil. But over and over again, every time you fill your
grahamhgreen
Feb 2012
#23
The energy to make the batteries is a 1 time expense, energy to make a gallon of gas is per gallon
ShadowLiberal
Feb 2012
#9
You have a point, but batteries don't last forever, even if there corrosive chemicals do.
Lionessa
Feb 2012
#13
For the purposes of this discussion it is not useful to measure energy in kwh
lumberjack_jeff
Feb 2012
#3
Far less. Every time you drive a Gas car 30 miles, you use a gallon of gas PLUS whatever
grahamhgreen
Feb 2012
#5
The point is that it requires 7.5 kwh of electricity to make a gallon of gas; so
grahamhgreen
Feb 2012
#32
Erm, if you're consuming less energy, and that energy is still fossil fuel based...
joshcryer
Feb 2012
#16
You're missing the point of the post - the gas powered car uses the electricity PLUS the gas.
grahamhgreen
Feb 2012
#26
Look at it this way, refining one gallon of gas requires 7.5Kwh of electricity. So,
grahamhgreen
Feb 2012
#40
The problem with these type of calculations is they ignore the power plant.
former9thward
Feb 2012
#14
Thank you! I don't understand why they want to use the electricity AND the gas to go the same distan
grahamhgreen
Feb 2012
#29
The calculation is wrong -- 21000 BTU can generate about 2.4 kWhr of electricity
FarCenter
Feb 2012
#39
It takes 7.5 kWh of electricity to just to REFINE one gallon of gas; the car still has not moved.
grahamhgreen
Feb 2012
#41