Do people realise that electric powered cars do pollute the environment.?

Question

The power that drives them is produced by power stations usually burning fossil fuels and because the power stations concentrate their pollutants over a relatively small area may well do more damage to a particular area.
Why should your car cause pollution 30 -40 miles away from where you use it?

Paul; Sorry to disillusion you but I know from experience and knowledge gained from working in the power generation and oil refining businesses that tall stacks do not distribute their pollutants very far, less than 1 mile at wind speeds of 15mph or less.
Tall stacks are a total waste of money and mislead the general public.

Answer 1

It's a bit misleading to state that electric cars do pollute the environment, because this is not necessarily true. If you're charging your electric car from wind, solar and/or hydroelectric power, then your car's contribution to global pollution is minimal as compared to a gas or oil burning car.

Answer 2

Hi Barrie
It is good to see someone concerned about the pollution caused by cars.
Any form of transport pollutes the environment, it is just some are worse than others.

Fossil fuel cars cause pollution around the world, often in environmentally sensitive areas there is oil exploration, pipe line leaks, displacement of local people. then tankers being broken up on the beaches of Bangaladesh. Noise is another pollutant we often forget.

And peak oil will be with us soon and unless we prepare there will be significant social withdrawal symptoms.

Electric motors are far more efficient than infernal combustion for a number of reasons, max torque from 0 rpm, no warm up, regenerative braking, no consumption when stationary, refuel at home or work, possibly from renewable micro-generator or from large grid generators running continously at optimum speed & power & constantly maintained for optimum efficiency, and useing unrefined fuel close to source.
Vehicle batteries can even be used as grid back-up to enable the use of variable supply renewable technologies.

Answer 3

Pollution level in cities from nitrogen oxides is a big problem and is caused, in the main, by the internal combustion engine. Power stations are built away from cities and have tall chimneys and so disperse the pollution. Then there's nuclear which hardly pollutes at all.


Noone

You obviously haven't looked at the data. Power plants may be the source of sulphur dioxide due to the sulphur in fuel but not nitrogen oxides which are produced by sparking in the internal combustion engine. Look at the brown haze over cities some days. It's not around the power stations.

Answer 4

Okay, so let's have a look at the bicycle shall we. It has been said often enough that this wonder machine cuts pollution, but does it? Okay, so while we peddle around on our bikes, we're not making any pollution - agreed. However, in order to make a bicycle an enormous power hungry polluting industry must first be created. Iron and steel making are heavy on the black smoke, producing lots of it.

This same rule of thumb applies to almost every manufactured item we use and have in our homes. Nothing is free from being part of the cause of pollution in the atmosphere.

In the last five years, I have cut my motoring from an annual average of 12,000 miles to a mere 800 to 1,000 miles per annum. I will eventually give up motoring completely but not until I'm 70 in five years time, when I will be required to take a medical, which I will probably pass anyway - I will simply not bother. One less petrol car to worry about then.

The heating and lighting in my house is now minimul. This winter 2006-2007 I've had the heating on 'reduced' for a max of 2 hours per day when it has been below freezing. Otherwise it stays off. It is now switched over to the summer programme, which means it will stay off until I put it back to winter mode. I have installed low power light bulbs - most only use about 15 volts. Elsewhere I use candles at dinner time and no lights.

In my house, my partner and me are slowly cutting back on things which we think lead to pollution. We're probably not going to be around for many more years, we're already in our mid 60s but we all got to play our part.

Answer 5

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There is no perfect solution to the pollution problem, but electric vehicles are nonetheless the best solution to the problem.
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Did you realize you drive an electric car right now? Absolutely true. Large amounts of electricity are used to refine gasoline.
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Electric vehicles are many times more efficient than gas-powered cars - and fuel also burns far more efficiently in large powerplants versus your car (gas cars are less than 25% efficient - but fossil fuel burning plants are 35% to 85% efficient) - which mean many more miles can be traveled in an EV on less fuel, which also means less pollution per mile.
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Gasoline must also be delivered by thousands of polluting trucks to local gas stations. Contrast this to electric vehicles, which fuel by wire (the electric grid is 95% efficient.) Electric motors are also over 90% efficient, far better than gasoline engines.
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The proof of the efficiency argument is found right in the fuel prices. Electric cars get about 5 miles to the kilowatt-hour, which sells for 3 to 10 cents in most cities (off-peak electric rates.) That's only a penny or two per mile, MUCH cheaper than gasoline. Efficiency is the reason.
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EV drivers also have the option of installing a solar panel. An EV-sized panel isn't that expensive, and reduces both fuel cost and pollution as close to ZERO as humanly possible. No other auto fuel can make this claim.
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Answer 6

yes, in at least 2 ways.

fist. the manufacturing process uses a lot of electrical energy just to build the car. something a lot of folks don't consider when they rush to trade in a 2-year old car that gets 20 mpg for a new one that gets 30 mpg. the difference in mileage doesn't make this a sensible trade.

second, as others have mentioned, generating the electricity causes pollution. that's bad news for the folks who think the hydrogen cell will solve the energy problem since it takes so much electricity to make the hydrogen that the gain is almost negligible.

the only way to really reduce transportation pollution in any meaningful way is to drive less.

Answer 7

Two things. Most importantly, electric cars will work well to reduce global warming when combined with nuclear, solar, and wind generation of electricity.

Less important, it moves some pollution out of congested downtown areas. Less important now, since gasoline powered cars don't pollute that much these days.

Answer 8

We evaluate it mandatory to "potty prepare" babies. all of the "pollution" then is going to a minimum of one place. by skill of this suggests we are in a position to maintain maximum of our atmosphere sparkling and artwork on casting off the accumulated pollution. As adults we spew pollution with each mile that we tension. a three twelve months previous can do extra powerful and so can we with electric autos. We shouldn't confuse the problem of the potential plant with the cleanly working EV. no person claims an EV is "pollution unfastened." they are ZEV: 0 emission autos. of their operation they produce 0 emissions. There are additionally cleanser the type to can charge battery electric autos. gas autos USE extra electrical energy THAN AN EV:a million we've thoughts to produce electrical energy with geothermal potential, image voltaic PV, image voltaic thermal potential plant life, wind and numerous different forms of unpolluted potential production. The petrol vehicle no longer purely pollutes in its operation, yet pollution is mandatory at refineries. those refineries require very much of potential at the same time with a lot of electrical energy. "It takes extra electrical energy to tension the generally used gas vehicle a hundred miles, than it does to tension an electric vehicle a hundred miles."a million If we've been to purely supply up producing gas shall we save all that pollution on the refineries and on the petrol vehicle. average, at the same time with autos, refineries, potential plant life, transportation and transmission utilising an EV will produce under a million/2 to a million/3 the pollution of a petroleum vehicle. There are approximately 3 hundred million autos on the roads. If by skill of 2015 we've a million million EV on the roads this could nonetheless be under a million/2 of a million% of the autos on the roads. on the different hand better than 10% of our electrical energy is made utilising image voltaic potential, hydroelectric, geothermal, and the wind. we've a protracted thank you to pass previously we start up utilising extra sparkling electrical energy than is being produced. An EV device isn't "pollution unfastened." that's purely lots extra powerful.

Answer 9

If, however, the electricity could be generated by wind or HEP, there would be far less pollution than with a petrol or diesel engine.

Answer 10

most of the hybrid cars out there have the same carbon emmissions as my totally fuel car which really gets to me. Plus they have all the environmental issues with producing and maintaining the battery. How can that be more environmentally friendly. I think they should produce more efficient fuel cars and better fuels!!!! or improve methods of transport as to not need so many cars!!!!!!!!

grrrrr this issue really grinds my gears