When you charge a BEV at night, you are using power that would otherwise be wasted, because steam turbines, such as those used by Coal and Nuclear power plants, cannot be shut down fully at night, when the power load decreases. Enough power is generated and wasted every night to charge up 100 million BEVs. Those tons of Coal will be burned even if nobody is using the power, so charging a BEV at night is causing no net increase in CO2 emissions. This is the reason why electricity is so cheap late at night - it is surplus power.
I have driven a LEAF to work for over two years, and I work 30 miles from home. The LEAF already has enough range for 90% of commuters to get to work every day. In a couple years, that percentage will increase as lower-priced higher-range BEVs become available (200 mile range is a common target). Even if you don't believe that CO2 emissions are a problem, you can save a significant amount of money by driving a BEV, even when compared to driving a 50MPG hybrid. BEVs are practical for many commuters right now.
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When you charge a BEV at night, you are using power that would otherwise be wasted, because steam turbines, such as those used by Coal and Nuclear power plants, cannot be shut down fully at night, when the power load decreases. Enough power is generated and wasted every night to charge up 100 million BEVs. Those tons of Coal will be burned even if nobody is using the power, so charging a BEV at night is causing no net increase in CO2 emissions. This is the reason why electricity is so cheap late at night - it is surplus power.
I have driven a LEAF to work for over two years, and I work 30 miles from home. The LEAF already has enough range for 90% of commuters to get to work every day. In a couple years, that percentage will increase as lower-priced higher-range BEVs become available (200 mile range is a common target). Even if you don't believe that CO2 emissions are a problem, you can save a significant amount of money by driving a BEV, even when compared to driving a 50MPG hybrid. BEVs are practical for many commuters right now.