BEV Detractors…
…must think that gas fairies fill their tanks. They conveniently ignore these facts:
- To continuously drill, frack, extract, refine, transport and pump 300 million gallons of petrol a day has a huge carbon footprint.
- Driving 12,000 miles on petrol has the same carbon footprint as manufacturing one BEV.
- Fracking pumps millions of gallons of contaminated water into the watershed.
- BEVs do not spew CO2 everywhere, every mile. Emissions are limited to the power plant.
- Petrol car tailpipe emissions spew CO2 everywhere, every mile.
This essay will debunk the disinformation with numbers, facts, and sources.
The Myths
- Charging an EV pollutes more by burning more fossil fuel at power plants.
- Charging EVs will overload the grid.
- Making EV batteries is worse for the environment than producing petroleum.
The Numbers
The values used here are average values based on the US national mix of fuels.
They can be verified from several sources:
The Energy Information Administration
US DoT Office of Energy
The Federal Highway Administration
The Society of Automotive Engineers
Science Direct
Every mile:
Every mile driven in an ICE generates 1.2 lbs of CO2 from refining and burning gas.
Every mile driven in an EV generates 0.25 lbs of CO2 at the power plant to charge the battery.
Manufacturing an EV battery makes 10 tons of CO2.
Refining and burning gas for 17,000 miles makes 10 tons of CO2.
Every 100,000 miles:
ICE: 1.2 lbs per mile = 60 tons of CO2
EV: 0.25 lbs per mile = 12.5 tons of CO2 at the power plant, plus 10 tons to make the battery = 22.5 tons
EVs generate 62% less CO2 than ICE.
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Grid Load per 100,000 miles
EV: Producing battery = 250 kWh, charging EV battery = 25,000 kWh
ICE: Drill, frack, extract, refine transport and pump 5,000 gallons of gas = 25,000 kWh
Water For Fracking
Claims about water used for manufacturing EV batteries should consider this:
Crude oil is trapped in underground shale rock beds. Fracturing, or “fracking”, is the process of pumping a proprietary (secret) brew of water and chemicals into the shale beds at high enough pressures to fracture them. The brew dissolves the oil into a slurry that is pumped back out of the ground, where the oil and brew are separated.
The crude oil has a lifespan of months before it is refined, burned, and gone forever. The CO2 released remains in the atmosphere for decades. The PFAS in the watershed remain for generations and accumulate in our bodies.
Produced Water
More water comes out of the well with the oil than was put in. This “produced” water is no longer potable (safe for human consumption). There is no practical way to clean it. It must be stored indefinitely. No one wants this toxic waste. We are running out of places to store it.
PFAS and Fracking
PFAS aka Forever Chemicals, aka PolyFluoroAlkyl Substances are being pumped into our watersheds for fracking to release oil from shale rock. PFAS are formally classified as known carcinogens. There is no practical process to remove them. PFAS will not degrade over several human generations. They “bioaccumulate” in our bodies and the environment. In 2023, almost 2 million US oil wells each used an average of 10 million gallons of water for fracking.
Producing Lithium
Every BEV sold in the US has a battery warranty of 8 years or 100,000 miles. A typical lithium battery has an estimated service life of 300,000 miles. After that the materials can be recycled, or the battery cells can be downcycled for use in a less demanding application.
Once a lithium battery is in service, the battery itself no longer generates CO2. As stated above, there is a carbon footprint from charging it. Petrol cars spew CO2 everywhere, every mile.
The water required to produce a BEV battery is comparable to the water needed to produce one half pound of beef, or enough cotton for one pair of jeans. The production process evaporates the water. As such it is far less of a multigenerational toxic waste issue.
Water for Lithium
The Water Footprint of Energy
The Hydrogen Car Folly