Why are electric cars toted as green energy when it takes electricity to charge them?

Question

Like what? 😯 It takes a coal-fired electric plant to charge an electric vehicle. How is that "green energy"? Or is that just total BS by the Dumocrats? 🤔

buzzword · Accepted Answer

When ever you have to charge batteries there is lost energy. You have to run inverters to step up or step down voltage and you have to run the electronics of the charge controller as well to properly manage the charging algorithm. This is usually at least a 3% loss of energy. There is also energy loss from the power plant to the end consumer in centralized power systems (i. e. power plants). The voltage has to be stepped up to carry long distances over transmission lines which ends with energy loss. Typically this is roughly another 2% energy loss to step up the voltage. Then there is loss over distance due to wire resistance which is dissipated as heat. How large of a loss this is all depends on the distance you live from the power plant.

Over all electric cars are very energy inefficient and largely depend on fossil fuels for charging. Being that automobiles are such energy hungry devices, it's a lot smarter to use an internal combustion engine to utilize fossil fuels directly in the car, rather than centralized power plants to distribute electricity generated from the use of fossil fuels remotely to charge batteries for electric motors. It's also a lot more convenient to have an internal combustion engine with the massive infrastructure we already have with commercial gas stations.

Electric cars only some what make sense under a fusion economy. In the event that you have cold fusions power plants all over the country to generate clean cheap energy I could see the viability of the technology. It doesn't hurt to research, improve, and field test the technology so that when fusion becomes mainstream reality that you are ready to move forward with electric vehicles, but for the time being it's little more than a gimmick. But if people are willing to waste their money on it, then at least battery technology can be improved and that's something we really need to work on as a civilization.

If you want to move toward reduced air pollution the appropriate path would be to manufacture more diesel automobiles domestically and then farm algae or cyanobacteria on a large scale for fatty acids. Then you could use those faty acids for the manufacture of methyl esters (biodiesel) which could be distributed using the same logistics networks and gas station and pipe line infrastructure we have already developed. It's a pretty easy problem to solve, but there really isn't any serious interest in solving it.

lightbulb27 · Accepted Answer

It's such a bs business solution but it's a convenient one. "A convenient solution to an inconvenient truth"? I'm shocked liberal left democrat thinking people buy into it. These are intelligent people that used to be social workers, ride their bicycles to work, eat vegetarian "meatballs" from health food store and avoid leather to save the cow, and grow their own gardens. All good. Now they buy electric cars to save the planet while drinking their starbucks in a disposable cup to go pickup their one use amazon box at a lockbox. They chuck the box into the trash. Human de-evolution. enough about them.

We should be riding our bicycles, living like our grandparents.. moreso, shutting down the coal burning plants and stop flying around so much. that help more. nothing wrong with electric, but hydrogen probably better... although nothing is free.

The main value of electric to me is getting off of oil... so we aren't making more middle east filthy rich. you should see these people shopping in London, with their butlers and such. Some people getting rich on the oil.

I suggest you go drill an oil well somewhere, good business...

Razp_Sorbet · Accepted Answer

I mean depends where you live. In NZ where I live 87% of electricity is generated from renewable sources i. e solar, wind, hydro and geothermal.

Nikki1989 · Accepted Answer

Many countries don't rely on coal power at all.

Likes2drive · Answer

Yeah, until most of our electricity is produced by wind or solar panels and even with water, it’s not really a green type of electric because the infrastructure is not really set up for that yet, but the battery situation is going to be a problem later on

electromagnetic · Answer

Once the cobalt is gone, it’s gone.

ThinkerShell · Answer

There are reasons:
1. Not all electricity is made by coal and oil. Like wind and solar and etc.
2. We burn much energy and produce much pollution to have coal or oil, then we burn them again to move cars. But with electric cars, the second part is almost gone so we call them green.
3. Regular engins make pollutions in cities (where we live) but for electric cars, pollution is created ouside cities where generators are.
4. An electric engin uses less power to move 100km than a gass/gasolin/petrol engin
5. We lack infrastructure for electric cars which will change in future. In most parts coal generators are replacing with solar panels

HighValue · Answer

On day 1, to produce an electric car there has already been enough pollution created as operating a gas powered car for 8 years with the average driver's mileage, and that isn't even counting all the pollution that will be created to power the electric car.

They are just pushed by democrats that often have investments in companies that produce the parts needed for electric cars. Sometimes they invest in the parent company of the company producing the parts so it is less noticable that they are profiting from the policies they make.

Surely · Answer

It is mostly a feeling good thing at the moment. If those people who are promoting this green idea. Would know the total cost and destruction of the planet to make an EV. Plus the pollution that China makes to produce the batteries. I am sure that they wouldn’t want them in their own backyard!
Since the US doesn’t want hydro power, nuclear or wind power in certain locations. The brakes need to be applied on total electric power. Until some other electrical energy sources are in existence.

ProbablyClueless · Answer

You know how we have Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs? Well, when it comes to "green" we have the hierarchy of sins.

Use of fossil fuels is seen as extremely injurious to the environment. That said, I think people also tend to assume that more of our electricity comes from sustainable sources than it really it does.

Anonymous · Answer

It's bs.
The electricity needs producing in a green way. The batteries need new technology before they are anywhere near green, and the resources they currently rely on and manufacturing processes need a lot of work too (who gave the phone industry a pass?).
Personally, I got one for the tax incentives and don't care about net zero zealots.
However migrating the lifetime pollution away from built up areas to the factory that produced them is a good thing.
And the cars are actually fun provided you can charge at home.

exitseven · Answer

I do not think that electric cars will save the planet. And once all those batteries wear out and people find out they will be charged hundreds of dollars to recycle they will be discarded by the road side.

Kelly6 · Answer

@daniela1982  Electric cars are never green energy. They are just geopolitical strategicale reason, to not to depend on arab oil

nolabels · Answer

Energy is energy, no matter where it is sourced. The fact that the methods used in the manufacture of electric vehicles is so heinous is enough to reject their use, in my opinion.

spartan55 · Answer

Don't forget all the carbon emissions from manufacturing the lithium batteries for those things. I'm a long way from being sold on EV's.

strateguy632 · Answer

They know they recharge on the usual power grid. It was dumb to buy now , and hypocrisy... but they "feel good" despite no change.

goaded · Answer

I don't know if anyone claims that, exactly, but they do reduce polution where they're used and the electricity can come from renewables. More than half electricity generated in Germany is renewables. That figure will increase.

Redstang88 · Answer

Well not everywhere relies on coal power. The overwhelming majority of power in Canada is from hydro dams.  Not a huge believer in EVs, but getting away coal is part of it too

Massageman · Answer

"Funny how that works, eh Rock?", observes Bullwinkle.

zagor · Answer

The assumption is the energy is coming from a non-fossil fuel source, which isn't always true. Hydro and nuclear power would also fit in the category of non-fossil fuel generated power.

LiamJHayden · Answer

They might eventually be so, but are not close yet.

bluesparrow · Answer

Because the vast majority of people are stupid. Look who the president is.

MisterWack · Answer

That is so profound, electric cars are from electricity.  The more you know 🌈

noohair · Answer

The ev's that were left where hurricane Hellene went are a fire threat, Lithium batteries and water do not mix well.

RavVid · Answer

It isn't of course and is BS.

RowdyYates · Answer

People are clueless.

Avicenna · Answer

Agreed

Why are electric cars toted as green energy when it takes electricity to charge them?

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