Electric Cars and the Enviroment

Author Michael Boxwell with the
Mitsubishi i MiEV and REVA G-Wiz Electric Cars

Electric cars and the environment is a question which is asked all the time. In recent years, various claims have been made about the impact on the environment of electric cars.

We have carried out research our research using 'real world' fuel economy figures. We tested two electric cars and two powered by internal combustion engines. Over the chosen route, the electric cars gave a carbon footprint of under 3 oz of carbon dioxide for every mile driven (compared with over 9 oz of carbon dioxide for every mile driven for the other two cars) and a total fuel cost of 31¢, compared with over $1 for the gasoline cars.

The electric cars chosen for the test were a new Mitsubishi i-MiEV and a three year old REVA G-Wiz dc-drive with old batteries. The results from both were very similar. They were compared with two economical compact cars: a new Toyota Aygo and a 2007 Fiat Panda.

Mitsubishi electric car
and Toyota Aygo

We tried to ensure that the conditions were as similar as possible throughout. The tests were carried out in January 2010 in the UK, with temperatures around freezing for the duration of the trial. Cabin heating was used where necessary. This is an important point, as electric cars are less economical in cold conditions.

The route Chosen was my a trip to and from work - a total distance of just over 14 miles. This includes a total of about five miles of fast freeways and nine miles of busy inner city roads in Coventry. The carbon footprint calculations included the carbon impact of sourcing the fuel and transporting it to the power station, the production of the power, and the average transmission losses as it was delivered to the car."

Although these tests haven't been independently verified, they at least give a useful indication of relative fuel economy and carbon emissions. Even from my test figures, it can be seen that electric cars show remarkable levels of fuel economy and very low recharge costs compared with the other two models. There is little doubt that electric cars have a significantly lower impact on the environment than cars with combustion engines."

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