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Comment by crimsonalucard | Hacker News Reader

https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/electric-cars-...

This article says that electric cars actually produce more CO2 emissions. Hard to know what the truth is when sources are conflicting.

A conservative and logical estimate is that Electric Cars emit more CO2 gas overall because it requires an extra conversion step.

Gasoline automobiles: Source --> Kinetic Energy

Electric automobiles: Source ---> Battery Power --> Kinetic Energy

Of course the real answer could be far more complicated since even gasoline distribution causes energy usage itself. The controversy and hardness to find a definitive answer makes it reasonable for me estimate that electric cars don't really do any obvious net change in energy efficiency OR green house gas reduction At All.

It doesn't match the hype.

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Stop spreading FUD. There is no controversy data on CO2 per km of electric with different energy mixes. Data of CO2 equivalent is fully available. (ie. http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/nrg/ntgrtd/mrkt/snpsht/2018/09-01-1...)

Yes, with current energy mix electric cars in some places might be emitting slightly more CO2.

Just for US data report quotes electric fleet averages on 54MPG - average MPG of new ICE is 25MPG.

> A conservative and logical estimate is that Electric Cars emit more CO2 gas overall because it requires an extra conversion step.

Logical is to compare ICE vs electric drivetrain efficiency and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnot_cycle.

Even with dirtiest energy generation electric cars are not worse than normal cars of similar size.

I'm spreading Fear? No I'm not. Doubt? Yes. I invite people to eliminate the doubt, but don't accuse me of something I did not do.

Also the conclusion of my response is that electric cars don't make any reasonable change to energy efficiency or green house gas emissions, which your response fails to contradict.

> Also the conclusion of my response is that electric cars don't make any reasonable change to energy efficiency or green house gas emissions, which your response fails to contradict.

Is this not reasonable?

US data report quotes electric fleet averages on 54MPG - average MPG of new ICE is 25MPG.

I ignored that because evs don't operate on mpg. It makes zero sense if coal was the original source or if nuclear energy was the source. Miles per gallon of uranium fissioned? What? Also your sources report is Canadian yet you quote US data. You sourced incorrectly. Unreasonable? Yes.

I'm not a biased person if you clarify the implications of your "us data" and it's sources I can completely reverse my opinion in an inhumanly unbiased way.

A gallon of fuel contains a fixed amount of usable energy. Motion from point A to point B uses a minimal amount of energy. MPG equivalent is a perfectly reasonable way to measure the efficiency of electric vehicles, and optimal if you plan to compare them to ICE vehicles. MPG is only a proxy for distance per unit energy anyway.

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