Most "climate friendly" cars types by state

[semipro]

A state by state comparison of climate impact of fossil fuel hybrid vehicles versus EVs and PHEVs.
From the website:
An electric car is only as good for the climate as the electricity used to power it. And in states that rely heavily on fossil fuels like coal and natural gas for their electricity there are many conventional and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that are better for the climate than all-electric cars.
But that is just part of the story. Another critical factor is the carbon emissions generated when a car is manufactured. Emissions from producing the battery and other electrical components create a 10,000 to 40,000-pound carbon debt for electric cars that can only be overcome after tens, or even hundreds of thousands of miles of driving and recharging from clean energy sources.
This comprehensive state-by-state analysis of the climate impacts of the electric car, plug-in hybrid electrics, and high-mileage, gas-powered hybrid cars takes both of these factors into account – the source of energy for the power grid and carbon emissions from vehicle manufacturing.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/a-roadmap-to-climate-friendly-cars-2013-16318

 

[georgepds]

The assumption [1] here is that the dirty sources of electricity (coal, oil) should be included .. that's the governing principal behind the map in figure 1,(if you roll your own electric, it does not apply. Some people generate their own with solar PV, though, very few do so).

It is interesting to see in figure 2 how much energy is used in battery production.

The other point of interest is the split between electric and gas for the toyota plug in hybrid.. I have to study how they got their answer. The prius plug in can absorb 3.5 kwh/ night on the electric charge port .. If you do that every night without fail you use 1,277 kwh in electricity in a year. Assuming 5 mi/kwh ( I think that's what tOYOTA claims) you go up to 6,387 miles on electricity in a year.. this means that their implicit assumption is that people drive about 12, 775 mi/ year.. which seems a bit low to me. It gets worse if you use the "all electric" range of the prius plug in, whch is 8 miles per charge, and gives an all electric range of 5,840 mi/year

Some of the comments to the article expand on other flaws in methodolgy... I find the comments good reading


[1] "All-electrics and plug-in hybrids are best in states that have green electrical grids with substantial amounts of hydro, nuclear and wind power that produce essentially no carbon emissions. Conventional hybrids are best in states where electricity comes primarily from coal and natural gas."

 

[semipro]

I'm just glad to see that someone is trying to put some numbers behind all the hype that you hear about these types of vehicles.
As someone who recently invested in a gas-electric hybrid with hopes of conversions to power it with my own PVs I am glad to see that I'm not "doing the wrong thing" by driving a hybrid in the mean time, especially since I'm taking advantage of the "green energy" program offered by my local utility.
It was interesting to see that that the shift in outcomes towards EVs that occurred based on increased usage (100k miles plus).
I agree that the comments are interesting, both on the part of critics and the authors. Be sure to take the time to read the authors' responses or you may come away with the wrong impression.

 

[oldspark]

Electric or high mileage gas is a big step up from the boats we used to drive.