Climate Central on the hybrid vs electric car brouhaha:

[Dead_Parrot]

More fuel to the fire

Report Summary

America’s high-carbon electricity grid is short- circuiting efforts to give consumers climate-friendly, electric-vehicle options. Depending on where you live, generating the electricity to charge an electric car can produce more greenhouse gas pollution than driving a fuel-efficient gasoline-powered car.

The good news is that Americans have lots of choices to reduce the carbon footprint from their daily driving. Anywhere in the country, an electric car is much better for the climate than the average- mileage vehicle. But in many states, popular high- mileage hybrid and conventional gas powered cars are climate-friendlier alternatives to electric cars today, and new fuel economy standards should lead to even more climate-friendly options in the coming few years.

This report provides a state-by-state roadmap to the most climate friendly cars on the market today. The analysis is benchmarked to emissions associated with the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt because these are the top-selling all-electric and plug–in electric vehicles on the road today.

In 36 states, the hybrid electric Toyota Prius produces less greenhouse gas pollution than the all-electric Nissan Leaf, because when you plug in a Leaf to recharge, you are tapping into electricity generated largely by burning coal and natural gas in those states. (The Prius, which is the most efficient gasoline car sold in the US today, is called a hybrid electric vehicle, but it can be thought of simply as a high-efficiency gasoline car because it derives all of its power from gasoline: its batteries are recharged by running its engine and recovering braking energy.)

More: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/climate-friendly-cars/
Report: http://www.climatecentral.org/wgts/leafapp/Climate_Friendly_Cars_2012.pdf

[drm604]

1. I love my Insight hybrid.

I can get 50 - 60 mpg on the highway depending on conditions. 40 in town.

[txlibdem]

2. Electric vehicles are still cleaner, even if they run on coal generated electricity.

http://mediamatters.org/research/201202080012#carbon

[tinrobot]

3. So we have a lot of dirty power.

Shouldn't we be cleaning up power generation in these 36 states?

[GliderGuider]

4. What about Less Driving™?

That works no matter what kind of car you leave in the driveway...

[NYC_SKP]

5. I can see immediately that the report is lame and bogus.

Because if they paint the entire state of California the same color, then they disregard the extreme variations in energy source mix from one utility company service area to another.

SoCalEdison does not have the same mix, as SMUD or PG&E, for example.

I guess as a general guide it has some little value.

[wtmusic]

6. There's some fudging going on with this report.

1) They ignore weight: the Leaf seats five and weighs 314 lbs more than a Prius, and 500 lbs more than a Honda Civic Hybrid. It's a bigger car.
2) They completely ignore particulates in their assessment of "greenhouse gas pollution"
3) They assume power generated in West Virginia is used in WV - not only a lousy assumption, but false. A more accurate picture would be to spread out generation over the 11-state synchronous grid which provides power for WV, creating a multi-state average with far lower utility emissions than WV alone.
4) They ignore the fact that a gasoline-powered car's emissions very reliably increase over time.
5) They ignore the fact that utility emissions very reliably diminish over time (with cleaner fuels and installation of electrostatic scrubbers).

Anyway there is a lively online discussion - with the authors - at:

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/climate-friendly-cars/P2

(scroll down)