It seems that the UNEP chief has been given an i3 car by BMW, though for how long, isn't clear. The decal on the side of the car says: "100% electric", but that depends what the electricity was made from. Nobody is saying, but the key phrase in the piece is "locally emission-free". Just so.
A piece in the Christmas Economist showed how the green credentials of electric cars vary, depending on the fuel mix used to generate the electricity. It said that electric cars can be considerably dirtier (in CO2 terms) than petrol cars. Although it was American data that were used, the point applies here as well. The piece ends:
"Overall, the research shows that electric cars are cleaner than those that rely on internal-combustion engines only if the power used to charge them is also clean. That is hardly a surprise, but the magnitude of the difference is. How green electric cars really are, then, will depend mainly on where they are driven. In France, which obtains more than half its power from nuclear stations, they look like a good bet. In China—which is keen on electric cars, but produces some 80% of its electricity from coal—rather less so"
Now, I'm a fan of electric cars, and have one myself: a VW e-Up!, not the i3. On a sunny day (rare recently), I even use my own solar power from 'Semington A' to charge the battery. Driving it is easy and enjoyable. Working out how far you dare go is quite another matter: an abstruse science or a complete art, depending on your facility with partial differential equations. I wondered how it would cope with the hills round Bath, and it turns out to be fine when descending, especially using the stylish regenerative braking which increases the range significantly. Going uphill is another matter where a 1 mile journey can knock 11 miles off the range available. The car monitors the battery state and will shut off the heater (or air con), and de-rate the motor, if the 'miles in the battery' run too low. It calls this, with no hint of irony, "eco-mode". It's an adventure, particularly if you (as I haven't yet) risk a long-distance journey as the charging infrastructure is not reliable.
Responses
Hi there, I arranged for the car to be used by the UNEP Chief.
The car was loaned to UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner for 2 weeks during COP20 in Lima. In that time it saved around 71kg of tail pipe emissions.
More info on the sustainability of the car including water and energy saved in the production can be found here:
https://www.becomeelectric.co.uk/hub/episode/3
Thanks,
Lindsay