Everybody knows an electric car doesn’t use gasoline, but since it gets its power from the electric grid, the question remains: How clean is an electric car?
A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists, “State of Charge: Electric Vehicles’ Global Warming Emissions and Fuel Cost Savings Across the United States,” is a first-of-its-kind analysis of the emissions EVs create from charging on an electric grid and how the cost of that charging compares to filling up a gasoline-powered vehicle. On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with Don Anair, the report’s author and senior engineer for UCS’s Clean Vehicles Program about the report’s findings and what is the future for electric vehicles.
Don Anair is an engineer in the California office of the Union of Concerned Scientists' (UCS) Clean Vehicles Program working on state and national transportation, air quality, and global warming policy. As part of his work on heavy-duty vehicle issues, Mr. Anair analyzes the impact of diesel pollution on public health and air quality. He is the author of three reports, "Sick of Soot," "Digging Up Trouble," and "Delivering the Green," which focus on the impacts and solutions to reduce diesel emissions. He is also an advocate for groundbreaking diesel clean-up and greenhouse gas efforts in the state and around the country, including regulations, incentive programs, and legislation. Don also evaluates hybrid and advanced vehicle technologies and is author of the Hybrid Scorecard.
- KBOO