Electric Cars Aren’t As Green As You Think

Adam Conover, host of TruTV’s Adam Ruins Everything, is here today to bust some bubbles about electric cars. As you can probably assume from the title, electric cars are not as environmentally friendly as they’re marketed to be, so if you are keen on picking up that new Tesla, buy it for the absurd acceleration, not the benefit to the planet.

Conover points out that charging your electric car requires electricity, and since we are still quite a ways from a fully-renewable electric grid, this power most likely comes from a smoke-belching power plant, meaning your green ride likely produces more carbon through electricity production that most hybrids do via combustion.

Adam also cautions that the environmental impact of producing electric cars – specifically their batteries, which require lithium, which requires mining, which means massive holes plunging into the earth and carbon-creating machines to get to it – more than offsets their zero-emissions benefits. Does this mean you shouldn’t buy an electric car? Not necessarily. If you’re going to buy a car anyway, then buying an electric car makes sense. If you have a perfectly functional car, especially a hybrid, then hang on to it until you actually need a new vehicle. As Conover mentions, less consumption leads to less production, which is one huge way to help make an impact on the environment!