Electric cars in Germany emit more carbon dioxide, remember that's the "greenhouse gas" that will kill us all in less than 12 years, than internal combustion engine cars, specifically diesel cars.
Yep. That's the result of a study done on the carbon footprint of electric cars conducted by Christoph Buchal, professor of physics at the University of Cologne, and Hans-Dieter Karl, long-standing energy expert; and Hans-Werner Sinn, professor emeritus at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Munich).
According to their study, the professors found that when you take Germany's current energy mix and combine it with the the amount of energy used in battery production, the CO2 emissions of battery-electric vehicles are, in the best case, slightly higher than those of a diesel engine, and are otherwise much higher.
Oh, dear. Combine this latest study with the numerous studies on how bad for the environment battery production and disposal is, and you might have a very blue greenie weenie.
The scientists also say that not only do you have to look at battery production, but you also need to look at the amount of CO2 produced to generate the electricity to power the car as well. Otherwise, you aren't getting the fully picture.
Given Germany's energy mix (which still relies heavily on coal), the battery production process, and the electrical generation process, a typical Tesla emits 156 to 180 grams of CO2 per kilometre, which is more than a comparable diesel vehicle produced by Mercedes, for example.
The German researchers, therefore, take issue with the fact that European officials view electric vehicles as zero-emission ones. They note further that the EU target of 59 grams of CO2 per km by 2030 corresponds to a “technically unrealistic” consumption of 2.2 litres of diesel or 2.6 litres of gas per 100 kms. For you non metric people, this is the equivalent of going 60 miles on about 3/4 gallon of gas.
These new limits pressure German and other European car manufacturers into switching massively to electric vehicles whereas, the researchers feel, it would have been preferable to opt for methane engines, “whose emissions are one-third less than those of diesel motors.”
Your research director's personal note--I spent last week in The Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. I drove a hot little Mercedes that was powered by gas. Fun little car. It cost me nearly $80 to fill up the tank, even though it got great gas mileage. I bought 41.31 liters of gas (11 gallons) and paid 70.19 euros ($79.00). That price included a 21% gas tax, just saying.
At the same time, I saw more Teslas and electric BMWs over there than I have any place else. In fact, the government will heavily subsidize your purchase of one of those.
A typical Model S for sale in The Netherlands costs about $160,000. However, you get tons of tax breaks and subsidies to make that purchase much more attractive. Subsidies alone in the The Netherlands will bring that number down to about $120,000. Add to that annual tax credits for being green, and a Tesla fan is looking at a total cost of closer to $90,000.
Which probably explains why all the Uber Black cars in Amsterdam are Tesla Model S.
With these subsidies, European governments are just adding costs to their citizens all in the name of protecting the environment. Except, like all green projects, electric cars will not save the environment (not that it needs saving). If you think that carbon dioxide is the devil in global warming, all this encouragement of electric cars is just going to shorten that time to destruction.
My prayer for Europe--If you insist on polluting the environment with electric car batteries, at least buy LNG from us. It's the only way to reduce that carbon footprint besides freezing in the dark.
Sandra Peterson