Electric vs. Hybrid vs. Gas Cars - Comparing The Numbers

Which vehicle is most efficient on the wallet and the environment?

So we were having a bit of a debate at the office last week on the efficiency of electric cars vs. hybrid and gas. Being in the PV (solar) business we don't spend a ton of time thinking about alternative fuel autos, but as the electric car becomes more viable (Chevy Volt, Fisker, Tesla) I really wanted to get to the bottom of the financial and green benefits of each. Now keep in mind the numbers below are all directional and based off of fairly quick research and calculations, but directionally they tell a very, very nice story (for the electric car).

My thinking has been that if you're driving an electric car aren't you just swapping one fossil fuel for another? In which case doesn't a hybrid make the most sense? Especially when you drive long distances on a somewhat regular basis? Well, according to our calculations the answer seems to be a resounding no. Electric cars are about 3x as green as a hybrid (in terms of total lb CO2 produced) and 6x as green as a gas car.

The simple numbers are below...

There are a couple of factors at play here. First the Electric Car is just much, much more efficient in its operation than the Hybrid or Gas car. Fewer moving engine parts is the biggest reason for this. Also electricity is cleaner to produce and transmit - no ships, barges and refineries at work here. Typically nuclear, natural gas or coal creating the electricity.

The big issue I have with the electric car is long-distance driving. I often head to Michigan or Wisconsin from Chicago and need more than a couple hundred mile range on my vehicle. Plug-in hybrids seem to solve that issue. The Chevy Volt and Fisker (image above), are two examples of this. These cars run off of electricity for 50 or so miles - a reasonable daily distance for most people. Once you cross that 50-ish mile threshold a small gas tank kicks-in to charge the battery. In some cases this can bring you another 200+ miles.

Now, with an electric car you can reduce your cost and CO2 to virtually ZERO by charging up with solar. A small installation on a garage roof can provide the charge for a plug-in at zero cost and with literally zero emissions for a long, long time. Interested? Give us a ring at PVPower and we can help pull together a PV system to help fuel your plug-in.

I'd love to hear additional thoughts and discussion on this topic, please comment below.


References
Energy Info:
http://greenterrafirma.com/wordpress/electric-vehicles-co2-from-ele...
http://www.ev1.org/msg/11.htm
http://www.carbonfund.org/site/pages/carbon_calculators/category/As...

Vehicle Info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster
http://autos.yahoo.com/2010_toyota_prius/
http://autos.yahoo.com/2010_honda_civic_sedan/