Hitachi respond to ‘electric, dirty as diesel’ article
Letter To The Editor
In response to the recent Which? report findings, (Daily Mail, 24.2.11) whilst it is true that electric cars (EV) are not completely ‘zero emissions’, they are zero emissions at the “tailpipe”.
To get a true view of how “clean” different technologies are the comparison needs to be done from “well to wheel”. Whilst the majority of internal combustion engine emissions are generated in use, to establish the full picture you need to consider the CO2 impact of extraction, manufacturing and transport. When this is done the true CO2 associated with a conventional car is greater than the published “tailpipe” figure.
Furthermore, a car with a conventional engine puffs out a number of other gasses and particles into the air we breathe which have a more direct impact on health than CO2. Electric cars do not omit any of these and therefore air quality is less affected.
The CO2 produced to power an EV is restricted to the power plant alone. The UK Government is investing heavily in reducing electricity production from fossil fuels to renewable energy and nuclear power. Therefore in time, electricity production will become greener and thus the “well to wheel” CO2 emissions will improve.
A modern generation electric car using the current UK electricity grid equates to around 81 g/km of CO2. For a typical conventional car 20g/km of CO2 can be added to the published “tailpipe” figures to allow for production. Therefore a petrol car with a published CO2 of 163g/km is actually responsible for around 184g/km. Even a hybrid can expect 105g/km.
If your daily journey can be met by the range of an electric car, you will not only be helping the planet and your local air quality but you will no longer need to queue at a fuel station or pay the ever-increasing fuel prices, which show no signs of reducing!
Simon Oliphant CEO, Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions
See also:
No comments yet
