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by hatberet 4926 days ago
Tesla has a cute map of electricity generation by state: http://www.teslamotors.com/goelectric#electricity

It looks like there isn't any state where driving an electric actually produces more CO2 than driving a gas car. And that's before you include the CO2 generated from refining oil (which requires a fair amount of electricity).
1 comments
cjensen 4926 days ago
That's a great map except they fail to state the MPG of the "Gas Car" they are comparing too. Given the numbers in that, I'd be willing to bet a Prius outperforms the Electric in some of the worst states.

Edit: Assumption is stated as 22mpg at the bottom of the page.

That's fair if you are comparing the Model S to a similar luxury car. It also means the Prius wins in a lot of states.

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hatberet 4926 days ago
> It also means the Prius wins in a lot of states.

That's true. But I think Tesla is trying to sell the Model S to people who would otherwise buy a similar luxury car. There are a not-insignificant number of people in the world who just hate the Prius because it sacrifices handling, performance, and interior finish for the sake of fuel-efficiency. If Tesla builds and sells a car that those people like, isn't it still a net win? People who like hybrid Priuses can still buy them.

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