Why I don’t own an EV

I live in Rhode Island. Ca. 90% of electricity in Rhode Island is generated by natural gas. So if you re-charge your EV in Rhode Island, you’re fueling your car with natural gas.

Some folks have pointed out that EVs are about twice as efficient as ICE vehicles. That is, they waste about half the energy converting battery electricity to motive force as ICE vehicles do converting gasoline in the tank to motive force. 

That’s correct. But what this calculation overlooks is that even in the more advanced combined cycle power plants, only about 60% of the energy stored in natural gas is converted to electricity. So here in Rhode Island, there isn’t much difference between EVs and ICE vehicles for carbon consumption.

Now there are plenty of states that generate more electricity from renewables than RI. And for our electrical needs, we’ve contracted with a solar farm, so if we recharged an EV at our house, it would be running on green fuel. 

I’m not constitutionally opposed to EVs, but I believe it’s important to understand where that electricity comes from. 

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