Many—cities and manufacturers alike—say they want to turn the page on conventional vehicles and replace them with their electric counterparts. Colossal investments, heavily subsidized by public funds, are being made to this end. "Electric vehicles are clean", we are told. They do indeed emit no CO2 while being driven. But over its entire life cycle, an electric vehicle may not emit less CO2 than one with an internal combustion engine.
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A numerical comparison of two vehicles
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Let's compare a fully electric vehicle (not a hybrid) with a conventional one. Suppose they both travel 13,000 km a year for ten years. How many tonnes of CO2 will they emit?
When in use, the conventional vehicle consumes fuel whose production and combustion generate CO2 emissions (currently about sixteen tonnes over ten years).
