{"id":1132,"date":"2013-07-09T19:06:56","date_gmt":"2013-07-09T19:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roadtrafficsigns.com\/blog\/?p=1132"},"modified":"2026-03-10T07:13:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T11:13:43","slug":"power-tripping-electric-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roadtrafficsigns.com/blog\/power-tripping-electric-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"Power tripping: How green are electric cars?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Electric cars have been touted as the green wave of the future ever since George Jetson first shot across the animated small screen in his aerocar. But just how environmentally friendly — and, dare we ask, just how cost-effective — are they?<\/p>\n

\"French<\/a>

Even many environmentalists have embraced electric cars as the best alternative to traditional fossil fuel vehicles – but this orthodoxy is under challenge. From David Megginson<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

At least one researcher is asking exactly those questions. Ozzie Zehner, author of Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism<\/i>, a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, (and creator of his own hybrid electric car), wrote an extensive and eye-opening report, Unclean at Any Speed<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>for IEEE Spectrum magazine exploring the costs and environmental disadvantages of EVs (electric vehicles).<\/p>\n

Zehner isn\u2019t the only one: A National Academies life cycle analysis<\/a> claims that EVs will result in greater total environmental costs per mile than their gas-chugging vehicular counterparts, when taking into account the impact of battery disposal and manufacturing.<\/p>\n

Now-conventional wisdom states that — as the IEA (International Energy Agency), did in a April 2013 report, \u201cEVs reduce dependence on petroleum and tap into a source of electricity that is often domestic and relatively inexpensive. Just as important, EVs have the potential to unlock innovation and create new advanced industries that spur job growth and enhance economic prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even those environmentalists who once decried all vehicles are now advocating for electric hybrids, while Zehner, and critics like him, question whether the electric car is really all that green after all — especially when taking into account other solutions, such as public transport, bike-riding, and improved urban planning.<\/p>\n

\"Chevy<\/a>

Electric vehicles have been touted as a major piece of the climate change solution. Are the benefits really there, though? From Steven Depolo<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Some fascinating statistics:<\/p>\n