International Business Times has published an article comparing the CO2 output from battery electrics to that of hybrid vehicles concluding that under all the wrong conditions the hybrid betters the electric.

What are those conditions?

Well, when an electric car is charged from a coal power station.

I don’t enjoy reading articles that bash electric; it needs all the positive press that it can get and, to be fair the article is clear that this is not a typical case… I’ll wager that’s not the headline that gets picked up though!

Comparing an electric car charged from a coal power station to a hybrid in perfect working order is certainly over simplifying the equation, the conclusion breaks down when you factor in any of the following:

• Not all power stations are coal; many are gas or even nuclear
• Not all journeys are 100 miles; shorter distances see a significant jump in CO2 emissions from hybrids as they burn more fuel in the city environment.
• Not all hybrids are in tip-top state of tune; like all internal combustion engines they degrade over time.
• Many BEV friendly families have BEV friendly roof-tops covered in solar cells.
• Electrics currently charge from spare, free power overnight.

Let’s recalculate:

Assuming the BEV is charged from 50% gas and 50% coal that’s now just one source emitting 0.59 tons / megawatt and one at 0.99 tons per megawatt (source: EIA) so our electric is producing just 37lbs, and that’s on the high side, on gas alone it’d be 28lbs so it lands much lower. I have solar cells so, for me, the output is ZERO lbs; try that with a hybrid… plug in guys!