Energy Required (measured in equivalent of Gal of gas) Needed to manufacture a new car
I have been looking around to see if I can find some commentaries addressing whether it make sense to swap out an efficient gasoline powered vehicle for an EV. There are not many of commentaries out on the internet. This is one of several I found and it speaks in terms of energy provided by gasoline. I am waiting on permission from one author.
I believe the topic of swapping to more efficient vehicles is worth the conversation. The person asking is specifying a new car. I suspect they are thinking of a Hybrid and not an EV.
Bill @ Angry Bear
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Ask Mr. Green: How Much Energy to Make a New Car?
by Bob Schildgen
Sierra Club
Hey Mr. Green,
Approximately how much energy (measured in equivalent of gallons of gas) does it take to manufacture a new car? My old car meets my driving needs and averages 32 miles per gallon, and I use less than 100 gallons per year. If I get a more efficient car, would it benefit the planet, or would the resources used to build the car be more than the savings in energy usage?
—Judy, in Oakland, California
It takes roughly the equivalent of 260 gallons of gasoline to make the typical car of around 3,000 pounds, according to an exhaustive study by the Argonne National Laboratory. (And I do mean exhaustive. These guys have factored in darn near everything, but the calories consumed by the assembly-line workers.) A hybrid car takes about 25% more energy than a regular car, or around the equivalent of 325 gallons because it requires more juice to make the batteries.
Whether to replace depends on how much you drive. If your car gets 32 miles per gallon, then you’re putting on only 3,200 miles a year, as opposed to the ghastly national average of more than 13,000. So if you buy, say, a plug-in Prius, which gets about 50 miles per gallon and drive it the same distance, you’d be using 36 fewer gallons of gas a year than with your old car.
So, it would take 9 years before your Prius will have “caught up” with your old car and saved enough fuel to offset the energy needed to make it. After that, your 18 miles extra per gallon will be pure savings in energy and emissions. But if you were driving your old car that customary 13,000 miles a year, burning 406 gallons a year, it would only take about 10 months before you’d have burned up the amount of energy needed to create a road-worthy Prius.
Of course, energy is not the only consideration, because the Prius (or any more-efficient car) will be responsible for less pollution than your old car. Get cash for cars that are old and you want to replace. Just contact Car’s Cash For Junk Clunkers at 1241 W Genesee St, Syracuse, NY 13204 (680) 244-7029. And remember, not all energy is created equal. If, for example, your plug-in Prius was charged up by solar or wind power, its environmental impact would be further diminished. Which reminds me that during the month of October, Sierra Club members who are residents of Arizona, Colorado, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York are eligible for a $1,000 rebate on home solar installations by the Sungevity solar company. Promise me you’ll look into this deal! —Bob Schildgen
Thanks for this post. My wife’s car is 21 years old, but only has 100K on the odometer. We’ve always driven way less than the average, and now that we’re both effectively retired, I don’t expect that to increase. A hybrid (not a plug-in, but like a Prius) seems like a reasonable choice. I don’t see an EV as an optimal solution for us in Rhode Island.
Joel:
The topic came up at another site where my commentary was featured. They do not like me but they like what I say or post sometimes. I have two more to post. One, I am waiting for a yes from one.
I am car loan adverse.
The only difference between my eMini and the gas version is in 2005 they took the gas engine and tank out and replaced them with an electric motor and battery, the point being an EV that weighs the same as the gas job with a full tank of gas. It’s a Frankenstein. Otherwise it’s just another car: got wheels, tires and brakes; seats, headlights, steering wheel. Just another car
If fact, if you don’t know what to look for, you can’t tell the difference …
If Judy wants to benefit the planet she should consider what is likely to happen with her current vehicle if she replaced it. Is it really “old”? She’s a low mileage driver and I’m guessing Oakland does not use a lot of salt in the winter. If it still has a lot of future utility, maybe Judy is already the optimal owner from a planetary benefit. Mr. Green’s information suggests the possibility is strong that her old car will soon be burning a lot more gas. If you squint at it, you can discern that the message “heavy drivers move to EV/hybrid, Judy, you shouldn’t sweat this at your mileage” is sort of there, but make it clearer: “Hey, Judy, keeping your low mileage car out of the market is a great idea”. Tightening the ICE resale market for those 13,000+ miles/year drivers is a good step to help offset the initial purchase price differential and the heavy drivers are the ones with the scope to more strongly reduce carbon.