Originally Posted by
TooL8
Electric motors run on electricity, electricity comes from power stations, power stations burn fossil fuels (I like the idea of wind turbines, but ...).
Sooooooooo, net carbon saving equals?
Quote from Tesla motors FAQ..
http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php?js_enabled=1
Q
on't electric vehicles actually just move pollution to another location? And therefore don't EVs still use oil?
A:No. Electric power generation in the USA does not use oil. Coal, hydro, nuclear, solar, and natural gas are typical sources for generating electricity. Power generation plants, even coal burning ones, are inherently more efficient and less polluting than vehicles due to economies of scale and the ability to more efficiently remove pollutants from a smaller number of much larger fixed locations.
Also, an electric car is far more efficient than a gasoline car, so the amount of pollution generated by producing the electricity to drive an EV a given distance is much less than the pollution from the gasoline to drive an internal combustion car the same distance.