Don electric vehicles simply switch emissions from petrol to coal?
The amount of emissions from coal fired electricity consumed by electric vehicles to travel the same distance as petrol (or diesel) vehicles is less (see MEC calculator for examples). The benefits do not stop there. Electric vehicles produce zero local emissions which means much cleaner air in our cities and huge savings in health costs (see MEC health page). Electric vehicles also have the ability to be powered by clean renewable energy (green energy) which means that emissions are eliminated altogether. The additional cost of using renewable energy to power electric vehicles in Australia is less than the price of a cup of coffee weekly (see MEC costs page for details) and still results in significant savings on fuel running costs compared to petrol or diesel.
