TRUE OR FALSE: Electric vehicles just transfer emissions from the vehicle to the power plant generating the electricity used to recharge the batteries.
FALSE: While there's some truth to this trade-off, electric GSE represents a really good trade!
Electric vehicles still have a carbon footprint, meaning that carbon dioxide is produced in the total operation of the vehicle. It takes a lot of electricity to recharge batteries, and most of that electricity is generated by a power plant burning fossil fuels. Using the U.S. average, approximately 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide is generated every year to operate a single bag tractor.
That sounds like a lot, and it is. But a comparable diesel tractor generates approximately 75,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year. Over 10 years, that’s an additional 650,000 pounds of carbon dioxide. Electrics still lower your cost of ownership. They lower your carbon footprint. And it’s still zero emissions at the airport. GO GREEN!
