Electric Cars Not Yet Free of CO2 Emissions
A comparison of electric cars from manufacturers Tesla and Mini - using data about electricity from coal powered electric plants in the U.S. - shows that they would effectively emit more carbon dioxide than hybrid cars from Honda and Toyota over a travel distance of 100 miles.
The carbon dioxide emissions were derived from the electric vehicles' respective battery capacities and estimated full charge driving distances as well as fuel powered cars' current government miles per gallon ratings.
In a 100 mile drive, an all-electric Tesla Roadster would require an average of 21.72 kilowatt hours of energy, the equivalent of having using a medium-sized air conditioning unit operating for 21 hours.
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