Links this data please.
Regardless power plants are more efficient then ICE.
I’m a EV lover. I acknowledge that battery production at this time is a disatvantage. Do you expect the technology to wait until a battery can be made pollution free and get 100 miles per charge? Serious question, how would you want new better technology rolled out?
The joy of driving an EV is very high. Do not discount how nice it is to never go to a gas station. Full every morning. So quite and smooth.
I own two Bolts and love it. You don’t have to own an EV to save the world. They are just better.
I agree guys. We can do way better than this half-assed sniping speculation.
US Energy Information Administration has what we need right here:
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/state/Click on your state:
(in my case)
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/state/arizona/ .9lbs CO2 emissions/kWh
(for all the Minnesota guys)
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/state/minnesota/1.1lbs CO2 emissions/kWh
And what is the electric efficiency of electric cars?
I found this site with a range of efficiencies of between .18-.25 kWh/mile
https://pushevs.com/2017/05/23/electric-car-range-efficiency-table-nedc/(though it doesn't include Tesla, and I would assume Tesla would be on the less efficient range of electric cars due to its sporting nature, possibly MUCH less efficient than the best)
So, let's just say .25kWh/mi just to take the worst case scenario for the electric car - for the sake of argument - that equates to .225lb CO2 emissions/mile for an electric car in AZ, and .275lb CO2 emissions/mile for you Minnesota boys.
EPA also has us covered on CO2 emissions of ICE cars
https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicleAssumes 22mpg avg fleet fuel economy for U.S.
404g CO2 emissions/mi, or .9lbs CO2 emissions/mi
Easy to adjust this ICE figure for your own individual fuel economy. If you get 45mpg with a Prius, it's easy:
45mpg Prius/22mpg US avg = 2.045 times more efficient than avg
(.9lbs CO2 emissions/mile for a 22mpg vehicle)/(Prius 2.045 more efficient than avg) = .44lbs CO2 emissions/mile for a Prius
Comparing the two - even the most efficient ICE vehicle out there, averaging 45-50mpg over their lifetime, are still quite a bit more carbon intensive to operate than an electric car on the less efficient end of the spectrum. Even for two relatively coal-intensive states.
This doesn't negate the concerns about environmental impacts from manufacturing, mining, etc. I am also quite concerned about these, and wonder how we'll ever manage the issues as this industry scales up.
Lastly, I'm surprised no one has brought up local air pollution. The one thing electric cars do exceptionally well is remove all local air pollution. Most cities are having increasing air quality problems, and electric cars push the emissions away from town, which is a benefit for the health and wellbeing of the city dwellers. That said, the people living near or downwind of the coal plants are not doing so well. But coal is dying a slow death due to the economics of natural gas taking over, anyway, which is a helluva lot cleaner from a direct air quality/health perspective than coal.
No easy choices, to be sure.