Comparison Between Battery Powered Electric Vehicles and Internal Combustion-Engine Vehicles Cradle to Grave 11 and that’s the carbon intensity of the power used both in manufacture and power generation. When assessing the CO ² impact from the use of the vehicle, the marginal unit of power must be taken into consideration. Most studies have so far reviewed the average intensity from generation, but this does not give the full picture. In the UK, renewable energy sources – wind, and solar power – have priority access to the grid, with the result that the ‘gap’ between what the renewables provide and the amount of power being drawn down is made up by the combined cycle gas turbine generation (CCGT) and, occasionally, coal-fired power. This means whenever a new batterypowered electric vehicle is sold and used, the incremental power needed to re-charge the battery inevitably comes from CCGT sources. The average carbon intensity from CCGT power sources in Europe is c.410 grams per kWh, so battery-powered electric vehicles in the UK and Europe are categorically not CO ² neutral. Analysis from the USA shows a fully-charged battery-powered electric vehicle that expends 21 kilowatt hours for every 100 kilometres it travels until the battery is empty, would release approximately 50 grams of CO ² per kilometre. For Europe, this is closer to 62g/km. Combine that with the 130 grams per kilometre that has already been established (as above), the vehicle will have emitted 192 grams per kilometre. Compare that with an ICE vehicle of similar size, but not weight, on the same journey of approximately 500 kilometres. The battery-powered electric vehicle would emit 192 grams of CO ² per kilometre. With the reduced CO ² ‘cost’ of manufacture of between 40 and 70 grams per kilometre combined, the conventional ICE vehicle emits 150 to 180 grams of CO ² per kilometre (see Appendix 1,Table 1). So ICE vehicles compare very favourably with battery-powered EVs and, from a CO ² perspective alone, the conventional ICE vehicle is the most environmentally friendly option in a cradle-to-grave calculation. But there are additional negatives from the manufacture and use of battery-powered electric vehicles, as already highlighted in Table 1, in Appendix 1. The early scrapping of entirely serviceable older conventional vehicles with potentially many years of life left in them is a political aspiration that is not grounded in logic, science or intelligent environmental concerns. To replace such a car with a new battery- powered electric vehicle does not make any environmental sense; and, in fact, has a substantial negative impact on the benefits claimed. To do this as a consequence of Government policy is profoundly misguided, as well as being harmful to the environment. The Problem with Battery-Powered Heavy Duty Vehicles Research shows beyond all doubt that battery- powered heavy duty electric vehicles – notably, but not exclusively, trucks – are wholly impractical, and are exceedingly unlikely to be a viable proposition in the foreseeable future. The payload capacity alone of such a vehicle would be impractical, as the vast majority of the battery power would be used for propulsion, simply to overcome inertia and leaving almost nothing to move cargo. An even greater problem is that, in many cases, the battery would have to be so large there would be little room for any payload due to weight limits. There are some niche applications – for example, an electric delivery van with a range of about 80 miles could suffice in close-knit communities, much like the traditional milk float for stop/ start dispatch. But this could not possibly support large
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