Telling people that buying an electric car

is a great way to fight climate change is

a pretty reliable way to start an argument in some circles.

People will say that you still burn fossil fuels

with electric cars – it just happens

at the power plant instead of the engine.

And while that's at least partly true,

over their lifespans, electric cars don't consume

anywhere near the fossil fuels that

gas-powered cars do — especially in the United States.

With electricity getting cleaner all the time,

they're even better than you might expect.

There are a few variables to keep in mind though,

starting with the cars themselves.

In the US as of 2016, the average pure-gasoline

passenger car goes about nine kilometers

for each liter of gas it burns,

or about twenty-two miles per gallon,

but that's just an average.

Some go four kilometers or so; others go fourteen.

But the fuel efficiency hits higher highs,

and lower lows, when we start talking about

hybrid cars or trucks on the interstate.

Plus, the act of manufacturing a car

leads to greenhouse gas emissions --

whether it's electric or not.

So does refining gasoline.

But the major complicating factor here is electricity.

And where you live determines

how clean your electricity really is.

Most electricity in the US uses a combination

of natural gas, coal, and nuclear fission –

with a bit of water, wind, solar, oil,

and a few others thrown in.

But those numbers change from state to state,

and depend on things like local natural gas sources

or how windy it is today.

For example, Alaska has plenty of natural gas

and hydroelectric resources, so its power plants

create very little waste when generating electricity.

That means a full electric vehicle charge

using Alaskan electricity creates roughly

the same emissions as a gas engine that

drives 48 kilometers per liter or 112 mpg.

That's roughly five times the national average,

and two or three times better

than even some of the best hybrids.

It's pretty efficient!

But at the other extreme are places like Colorado,

which, energetically speaking,

is one of the dirtiest states. Sorry Colorado.

About half of Colorado's electricity is from coal,

which produces more emissions

than just about any other source.

But even there, electric cars

still outperform gas cars.

A full charge off of Colorado electricity

equates to about twenty kilometers per liter (46 mpg) –

about double the national average, based on 2016 figures.

That's pretty good.

Better still, most of the country is closer

to Alaska's numbers than Colorado's.

It comes down to this:

Power plants are just better at making power

than car engines are.

One reason is that they're simply bigger.

Bigger things don't waste as much energy staying hot

-- and that makes them more efficient.

And the story is similar across most of the world,

although again the details change depending on

where your electricity comes from.

In countries that tend to use more coal,

like India or China, electric cars break even

with the average gas-powered car in the US —

although they're still less efficient

than the average Indian gas-powered car.

But in water-powered Paraguay

or geothermal-rich Iceland,

gas engines need to get more than

90 kilometers per liter to beat an electric one.

So are electric vehicles really more efficient than gas?

Yes, they absolutely are –

unless you have some very dirty electricity.

So much for the “well, actually”s.

But climate change isn't just one problem;

it's a hot mess of many problems at once.

And it'll take some pretty radical changes

from people all over the world to keep that

hot mess from getting even hotter.

Thanks for asking.

Before you go, you may or may not be aware

that I wrote a book!

And that book… is out in paperback now.

I didn't tell you about it when it was just hardcover,

but now you can get it in value discounted,

not-as-hard edition!

It's a book about a girl who gets famous on the internet,

which is something I know a little bit about.

And it's also about like, space aliens, some.

So if sci-fi mixed with fame destroying people

sounds like an interesting story to you,

check it out! It's available wherever books are sold.

It's called An Absolutely Remarkable Thing.

[OUTRO ♪]