Tesla, The Coal-Powered Car, Won't Be Saving The World

From Investor's Business Daily.

"The electric car has been promoted as the environmental guardian that will save the planet from man's destructive behavior. The truth is a bit different, though. Electric cars are not eco-friendly.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that the Model 3, which isn't in production yet but has received more than 325,000 reservations since it was unveiled last week, "is really important for the future of the world,” as it will "accelerate the transition to sustainable transport" in our age of "record-high CO2 levels.” Reneweconomy.com said that with the advent of the Model 3, Musk "just killed the petrol car," while Barclays analyst Brian Johnston said "adios gas-powered cars" in response to the Model 3.

But the facts support neither Musk's claims nor the enthusiasts' confidence. Electric cars, all Teslas included, aren't what the drumbeat says they are.

Writing in the London Telegraph, Danish researcher Bjorn Lomborg notes Musk has "lamented that 53,000 people die from air pollution from transportation," and maintains that Tesla is a lifesaver.

"Like other electric cars, it has 'zero emissions' of air pollution and CO2," said Lomborg. Except that "this is only true of the car itself; the electricity powering it is often produced with coal, which means that the clean car is responsible for heavy air pollution."

"As green venture capitalist Vinod Khosla" -- and IBD -- "likes to point out, 'electric cars are coal-powered cars.' "

And they are deadly.

"If the USA had 10% more petrol cars by 2020, air pollution would claim 870 more lives. A similar increase in electric ones would cause 1,617 more deaths a year, mostly because of the coal burned," Lomborg said.

Furthermore, the increased use of electric cars in Shanghai, where electricity is generated by ultra-dirty coal plants, would be three times as deadly as the increased use of gasoline-powered cars.

Don't think that Lomborg is an outlier. Wired has reported that "Tesla's electric cars aren't as green as you might think" and made many of the same points Lomborg did. Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Economic Research says EVs don't live up to the hype, and North Carolina State University has made a similar acknowledgment.

Few electric car owners will pay attention to the uncomfortable truth, though. It's not the true concern for most. Buying electric cars is their way of "virtue signalling" -- showing friends, neighbors and the guy stuck in traffic next to them that they are morally superior. If they were truly about saving the planet, they'd educate themselves and make a different choice."