Are plug-in hybrids cleaner (even on a coal grid)?
An 2007 EPRI-NRDC study for the US has found that under nine scenarios for different rates of market penetration of PHEVs and the evolving power grid’s characteristics (capacity and carbon intensity), PHEVs will vastly reduce greenhouse gases for the next 40 years. A study from 2002 estimates that PHEVs using night-time power would reduce GHG by 46-61%. So, even if, worst-case, electricity is generated by using a lot of coal, nationwide greenhouse gas emissions will go down, and air quality for other emissions will improve.
