Argument: Electric cars will have a negligible impact on emissions

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“Electric Car Sparks Debate”. National Center for Policy Analysis. 2000 – The electric car is no solution to smog in California’s cities, according to a new report published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The study by Carnegie-Mellon University economist Lester Lave and three engineers attempted to assess the probable impact of 500,000 electric cars on the air quality of Los Angeles and New York City.

Here’s what happens when 500,000 electric cars are substituted for the same number of gasoline-powered vehicles:

• In Los Angeles, peak levels of ozone are reduced from 200 to 199 part per billion.
• In New York City, the effect would be virtually undetectable — leaving peak projected ozone levels at 190 parts per billion.
• The current safe level is estimated to be 120 parts per billion.
• An all-electric car fleet would lower peak ozone in Los Angeles by just 10 percent from what it would be given the types of clean gasoline-powered cars of 2010.

Robert Hahn, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, says that the zero-emission electric cars won’t make much difference if they are substituted for today’s very clean gasoline-fueled cars.

• Gasoline cars mandated for California remove 95 percent to 98 percent of those pollutants believed detrimental to health.
• Most electricity-generating plants — which would feed the batteries of electric cars — burn natural gas, which also emits pollutants.

“Electric Cars and CO2 emissions”. CarSeek – Doing the Math. According to the Energy Information Administration, for every 35 miles that the average compact car (25mpg) travels, it emits approximately 28 pounds of carbon dioxide. To fully charge a ZENN Car, it takes approximately 17 kilowatt hours, to propel the car its full range, 35 miles. Seventeen kilowatt hours of electricity produce 15 to 25 pounds of CO2 depending on the power plant providing the electricity. Coal-burning power plants, which make up about half of the US power grid, are the heaviest emitters of carbon dioxide. Nuclear, wind, and solar power contribute no CO2 emissions and the more they are in use, the better the numbers are in favor of EV cars.