Electric vehicles may not be as environmentally friendly as their supporters are suggesting, according to a new report.

Citing studies by the US department of energy's Argonne National Research Center and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the Wall Street Journal noted that the vehicles can cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent in comparison to traditional models.

However, it also explained that the benefits will be "limited for years" because the vehicles will be charged with electricity produced by coal and gas-fired power plants.

"The allure of electric vehicles, in part, is their ability to curb use of fossil fuels," read one section of the article.

"But about two-thirds of the country's electricity comes from coal-fired or natural-gas-fed power plants, which spew out pollutants including greenhouse gases."

The Argonne study claimed that greenhouse gas emissions could be cut by 80 per cent over a ten-year period in the parts of the US where cars use electricity produced by emission-free nuclear or hydroelectric power.

However, the Wall Street Journal suggested that this will only be true of a minority of electric vehicles, with the remainder still relying on traditional sources of power.

"For modern coal-fired power plants, if you drive a mile on electricity it is practically the same as having driven it with a Prius," Eladio Knipping, a researcher with the EPRI, told the news provider.

The report also noted that there is a major concern over how the lithium-ion battery packs used in electric and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles will be recycled.

Source:


Environmental Lift of Battery Cars Is Limited (18/10/10) 

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