First of all, electric cars are inherently more efficient and use less energy than comparable fuel powered cars. Go to fueleconomy.gov and you will see that the 2002 RAV4 EV -- an electric SUV offered briefly in California -- was rated at the energy equivalent of 112 mpg, five times more efficient than its gasoline counterpart. That also means one-fifth of the carbon emissions.
Furthermore, due to the inherent limitations of battery technology, electric vehicles tend to be smaller than conventional cars, making them less consumptive and polluting on average. The scaled-down vehicles featured in the original December 11 Tribune story get the equivalent of more than 200 mpg, making them nearly 8 times more efficient than the average car.
Finally, in terms of local and regional pollution study after study has found that generating electricity at a single large source, even from fossil fuels, is far cleaner per unit of energy than burning it in thousands of small engines with individual emissions control systems.
And that's per unit of energy consumed: once you consider that electric cars use 5 to 8 times less energy than gasoline cars, you can see that the amount of pollution generated is many, many times less.
Of course, those in the energy, automotive and auto repair industries, who all stand to lose if we start driving electric vehicles, don't want us to realize this.
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