how much greenhouse gases are emitted by electric cars?

[Priyanka001]

Gasoline-power vehicles are extremely efficient. Hybrids are even better. But electric cars may be very bad for the environment.

Electric cars have to deal with a loss of energy from the battery making the motor move, recharging, which generates a lot of heat from wasted electricity, the high loss of electric energy in the transmission lines from the power station to the home, and the loss of energy from a coal-fired power plant turning heat into electricity.

The financial cost is not the issue but The environment is. Coal may be far cheaper but it is also far more polluting. The carbon cost of an electric car is greater than for a gasoline powered car.

Most of our electric energy comes from coal-fired power plants. Nuclear power is the second largest source. Although there is no carbon added directly to the environment, there are other important pollution problems to consider from nuclear waste. Just think of how much radioactive waste your electric car will produce in its lifetime.

Solar and wind power contribute little to the total energy in our nation currently, so mainly, there is a tremendous amount of pollution that can be attributed to electric cars.

If we switch away from coal and nuclear almost entirely, I oould support electric and hydrogen cars. As it is, it seems to be a pointless gimick that makes the ignorant masses feel good about themselves, while actually producing more pollution and greenhouse gases.

According to the Department of Energy (DOE), about half of all air pollution and more than 80 percent of air pollution in cities are produced by cars and trucks in the United States.


Greenhouse gases trap heat from the sun and warm the planet’s surface. Of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, 87% are related to energy consumption. Since 1990, greenhouse gas emissions in the United States have grown by about 1% per year. In 2005, about 21% of the world’s total energy-related carbon dioxide was emitted by the United States.

[johndale]

I want to experience not going to gas stations for a year that's why I want to try these types of cars too.