Clarkson and others always ask the question, ‘where does the electricity come from?’
There are other stats that say it’s only better after a certain amount of miles driven or that the Lithium quarries produce significant amount of pollution.
What and where do these claims come from, how true are they and how false are they?
In: Engineering
>Clarkson and others always ask the question, ‘where does the electricity come from?’
Considering that Clarkson [also spread long-disproven propaganda against the Prius](https://np.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/2kou6r/does_anyone_know_what_happens_to_the_batteries/clnlkue/), he’s not exactly an authority on hybrids and EVs.
>What and where do these claims come from, how true are they and how false are they?
There are several claims to evaluate here, which I’ll take in order:
1. Lithium quarries produce significant amounts of pollution – Not in the context of EVs. Lithium mining [accounts for less than 2.3% of an EV’s overall environmental impact](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es903729a)
2. It’s only better after a certain amount of miles driven – True. As EVs have a larger manufacturing carbon footprint than ICE vehicles but a lower operational carbon footprint, they take time to break even on that manufacturing delta. The question is over where that breakeven point is – for instance, [the Union of Concerned Scientists](https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/driving-cleaner-report.pdf) pegs that breakeven point at 21,300 miles.
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