Teslas May Produce Same CO2 as Gas Powered Cars, Research Reveals

If you thought you were helping the environment buying into a Tesla, you might think again. The latest research reveals electric Teslas may actually produce the same, or more, CO2 compared to some traditional gasoline and diesel powered automobiles.

IMAGE: Tesla’s Model S (mark.warren/Flickr)

RT

Touted by some as the planet’s greenest vehicles, electric Teslas may be as bad for the environment as traditional petrol and diesel cars, the latest research reveals.

According to researchers at the UK-based climate data provider Engaged Tracking, the production of Tesla cars, as well as fossil fuel-powered plants used for generating electricity to charge the vehicles produce nearly the same amount of emissions that conventional engines do.

Engaged Tracking analysts used a different approach to studies that usually produce favorable results for electric vehicles. They explored the total emissions generated during the construction process of a Tesla Model S instead of counting how much CO2 is produced by the vehicle during its lifecycle. The astonishing results show that a Tesla is not cleaner to run than any other petrol car in Britain.

“The annual emissions of a UK car is 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide, based on an average of 7,800 miles a year,” the research firm’s chief analyst Jonathan Harris told The Sunday Times. “Both the Tesla Model S vehicles we analyzed have the same emissions as an ordinary petrol car of 1.5 tons of CO2 per year.”

The researcher also compared Tesla Model S to the BMW i3, which is smaller and produces an annual emission equivalent of 1.3 tons of CO2, making it 15 per cent more efficient than the Tesla Model S.

Continue this story and read Tesla’s response at RT…

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