Car and Driver

Discussion in 'General' started by bwilson4web, Jan 13, 2021.

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  1. ericy

    ericy Well-Known Member

    Even in January, the 10kW system on our roof generates 30-40kWh per day.
     
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  3. Recoil45

    Recoil45 Active Member

    Agree with this. It’s also why you cannot group nuclear in the “good” category. It’s clean from an emissions aspect, but accidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima caused as much harm to humans as XX of years of burning fossil fuels.


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  4. elecconnec

    elecconnec New Member

    Right. But keep in mind a few things: first, "somewhat dirty" EVs are *vastly* cleaner than gas engines, due to both the efficiencies of electric motors (so even if the source electric generation is "dirtier" than gas itself, the EV uses about 1/3 to 1/4 of the equivalent "fuel" of a gas car), and the fact that these comparisons rarely account for the pollution/energy used to source, refine, and transport the gasoline from the well to your tank (or, frankly, the coal/NG/etc. to the electric plant, but that's usually less due to economies of scale. Delivering fuel to 1000 power plants takes less energy and infrastructure than delivering it to 200,000 gas stations.) The comparison is usually "x amount of pollution generated at the power plant vs the amount of pollution from burning the equivalent amount of gas", as if the gas was just laying around everywhere in puddles ready to siphon onto your tank!

    Second, as public pressure and/or smarter government regulation forces electric generation to become cleaner, *all* EVs using the grid become cleaner *automatically* without any effort from the EV owner. Existing gas cars will *never* pollute less than they currently do as long as they burn gas.

    Thirdly, too many of us EV owners think only of the long term climate change angle in terms of clean energy, etc. A shorter term but also very important goal is smog reduction. Air quality in big cities like London is improving due to EVs. Central London has a ultra low emissions zone - any gas or diesel car that enters the zone pays a £15/day fee (about $20US). Most hybrids don't even qualify as low emissions enough to escape the fee. Since most power plants are built far enough from population zones for the pollution to disperse, they have a lower effect on air quality (per capita, at least!) than thousands of gas vehicles idling in traffic jams in cities. When a significant number of vehicles in big cities go electric, smog in those cities will virtually disappear, long before we see and feel any long term climate change benefits.



    TL/DR, "somewhat dirty" still beats f***ing filthy any day!

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