Electric cars more efficient than gas-powered vehicles

It pains me every time I read one of these articles in print or see them on TV. The media are giving time to people who are giving out opinions, and believe me, these are opinions only. None of what Gary L. Saunders, Clifton said (“Half-plugged into coal,” Dec. 6 letter) is based on fact.

Here are the facts: the average gas car produces 252.5g of CO2 per kilometre (km); one kilowatt (kw) of power produced in Nova Scotia generates 600g of

CO2, but this will power a EV (mine is a Hyundai Ioniq) 7.1 km. This means I am creating 84g of CO2 driving my car on power generated by our current coal mix over one km. That is three times cleaner than driving a gas-powered car. Let’s not forget that the most common vehicle in Canada is not a car at all; a pickup truck creates, on average, over 300g of CO2 per km.

Saunders goes on to hint that the battery process creates an even larger amount of CO2. Well, that MAY be true, but it is a one-time thing, because the metals mined in the production of EV batteries are not consumed while they are in use, and they will last at least 10 years in the original form (soon even longer, with new battery manufacturing techniques). Even if it were only 10 years, what happens then? They are not thrown out, they are then re-purposed for things like powerwalls (Tesla) or other forms of power storage, because they are still functional, just not suitable for cars due to a reduced amount of storage capacity. Let’s say they get another 10 years as a storage unit for grid power, then what?

Are they thrown out? Of course not, they are recycled and made into new batteries.

You need only look at the predecessor of lithium to see how this will play out. 100 per cent of lead acid batteries made in North America are made from recycled lead. Europe is now up to 74 per cent, as well.

So yes, there may be some CO2 created in mining the original metal, but what Saunders is leaving out is that gas for his trusty car or pickup needs to be pulled from the ground and refined. Guess what, that creates a lot of CO2, and that is a neverending process, because unlike metal for batteries, it is not reusable. When burned, it is gone forever!

I am not offended if people want to stay with the status quo, but when they twist the truth to try and justify it, well, that offends me. It is most certainly not better for the environment to drive a gas-powered car, regardless of how the power is created. Facts are facts. Eightyfour is less than 252. I am not giving you my opinion, I am giving you math and science.