Electric Car Myth Buster — Well-to-Wheel Emissions

Electric car well-to-wheel emissions are far, far less than gasmobile well-to-wheel emissions.

Unfortunately, there are always some people who spread false information about new technology, especially if it threatens to interrupt their source of income.  That’s precisely what is happening with the electric car revolution right now.  The people who have become wealthy selling cars and the fuels that make them go are petrified that electric cars are going to deprive them of the enormous profits they are used to, so they manufacture falsehoods designed to scare people away from considering purchasing one.

A favorite fib is that electric cars pollute the environment just as much as conventional cars do.  Let’s blow that myth out of the water right now by looking at the facts, not the lies the car companies and fossil fuel interests want you to believe.  The Union of Concerned Scientists has done a thorough study about this that took two years to complete.

The scientists wanted to know exactly how many emissions conventional cars were responsible for and how many emissions electric cars were responsible for.  It’s conclusion?  “We found that battery electric cars generate half the emissions of the average comparable gasoline car, even when pollution from battery manufacturing is accounted for.”  Half.

Let’s take that last part first.  Those who oppose electric cars like to say that electric cars create more emissions during manufacturing than conventional cars do.  And you know what?  They’re right!  The UCS found that “Manufacturing a midsized EV with an 84-mile range results in about 15% more emissions than manufacturing an equivalent gasoline vehicle.  For larger, longer-range EVs that travel more than 250 miles per charge, the manufacturing emissions can be as much as 68% higher.”

Wow!  68% higher.  That’s a lot, huh?  So, it’s true, electric cars are dirtier than conventional cars, right?  Well, actually, no.  The UCS report goes on to say, “These differences change as soon as the cars are driven.  EVs are powered by electricity, which is generally a cleaner energy source than gasoline.  Battery electric cars make up for their higher manufacturing emissions within eighteen months of driving — shorter range models can offset the extra emissions within 6 months — and continue to outperform gasoline cars until the end of their lives.”

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