Are Electric Cars Worse For The Environment? Myth Busted
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters link it repeatedly as a clear, number-based rebuttal to the claim that EVs are worse for the climate than gas cars.
What it is
Engineering Explained works through whether electric cars are really worse for the environment than gasoline cars. It covers battery production emissions, the electricity mix used to charge, and how long an EV takes to break even on lifetime emissions.
Recommended by 5 HN commenters across 5 different months, 2018 to 2023.
What Hacker News said
Recommends rfeather · 2018-11 · on “Oil Demand for Cars Is Already Falling”
The article doesn't talk about greenhouse gas emissions, so the power grid and fuel source isn't really relevant to the point, especially since oil is an extremely small part of the energy mixture in most places.[1] If they were talking about greenhouse gases, then the answer seems to be that it depends on where you live and how/what you drive, but an electric vehicle almost always produces less emissions than an equivalent gas powered one. [2] does a decent job explaining though I feel he leaves a few parts out for the sake of clarity. For example, driving a P100D isn't the equivalent of driving the average car. It's more like driving a sports sedan (like a BMW M5), so those sorts of vehicl
Recommends PopeDotNinja · 2019-06 · on “If Seeing the World Helps Ruin It, Should We Stay Home?”
Here's a video I liked on the carbon costs associated w/ gas & electric cars. Check out video's sources for further reading. [this video] -- "Are Electric Cars Worse For The Environment? Myth Busted" -- Engineering Explained
Recommends bennyelv · 2019-08 · on “Singapore Says Musk's Electric Cars Are About 'Lifestyle,' Not Climate”
Citation needed. The literature I've seen suggests that an electric vehicle easily makes back any deficit quite early in its life. An easily digestable version of this calculation is here: [this video]
Recommends Sohcahtoa82 · 2021-05 · on “$365B wiped off cryptocurrency market after Tesla stops accepting Bitcoin”
Nobody thinks that EVs have a zero carbon footprint. But over the lifetime of the car, they have a lower footprint than ICE. Yes, they have a higher footprint than ICE to manufacture, but even if you get your power from coal, over the long term their carbon footprint is lower. And if your power comes from a renewable source, then the break-even point is less than two years. Engineering Explained did a good video doing the math behind the carbon footprints of ICE versus EV over the life of the car: [this video]
Recommends theluketaylor · 2022-08 · on “Electric vehicles are way more energy-efficient than internal combustion”
Yes, it takes more energy to build a BEV than an ICE car. It's not massively different and the lifetime emissions of a BEV are still lower than an ICE car even on a pretty dirty grid. good breakdown: [this video]
Cites ed_balls · 2018-11 · on “What can I do about climate change?”
I depends on you location and driving in the city e.g. Prius can have less total CO2 emission than Tesla S if the electricity comes from fossil fuels. [this video]
Cites guntars · 2018-11 · on “Oil Demand for Cars Is Already Falling”
Producing a gas vehicle is equivalent to two years of average driving as far as carbon footprint is concerned, according to this one guy on YouTube ( [this video] )
Cites rohit2412 · 2018-12 · on “China ‘Is the Only One in the Race’ to Make Electric Buses, Taxis and Trucks”
I'm not sure why this guy doing a state by state breakdown comes to a different conclusion than you have. [this video] I can find you more sources that say the same thing he does.