Green-shameing

Hey Uncle Bob, what if I gun my Prime to over 85mph; are all bets off!!??

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I run our Prime on the 90 mile r/t to-work commute but start out with a battery full of PV solar so I end up with a lifetime so far 110 mpg which works out to about 100 grams CO2e per mile. Our other car is a local EV commuter run entirely on PV.

Between the two cars we average about 160 mpg, or about 70 grams CO2e per mile for the household.

 

Mine says 141 g CO{2} / mile in Los Angeles for my Prime

 

The web site is nebulous! Thank you, Bob! At my location, Leaf scores 100. PP is a few numbers less than Volt. I will find out if this will move my son's negative opinion towards EV.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I meant fabulous! Is there a way to edit a post from the PC app?

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I was briefly puzzled about the PriPri versus Volt numbers, but of course there is no allowance for differing distances, styles, and modes. It would be nice to be able to plug-in daily-drive characteristics, along with longer trip characteristics and frequencies.

I'd like to see line graphs of trip miles vs cost per mile comparing vehicles & modes, even with simplified assumptions.

 

I'm at 141 grams in Anaheim, CA with my 2017 Prime, like Mr. Cue in Los Angeles. This is equivalent to a gasoline engine car getting 77mpg! Coooool!

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If it's like the mobile app, hold down/click mouse on body of text to be edited; icon should appear to edit....

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"Why do you need my ZIP code?
The exact emissions from charging an EV depend on the mix of electricity sources used by your individual utility. Here, we average those emissions at a regional level and use your ZIP code to identify what region you’re in."

Mine says 155 g/mile for a Prime, and 145 for a BEV, which means they are NOT drilling down to the individual utility level. My public utility (Seattle City Light) has been 'carbon neutral' for more than a decade. 1-2% of the energy comes from carbon sources, and they buy credits to offset all of that (including their motor vehicle fleet). Regional private utilities such as PSE are not even close yet, but their zip codes are showing the same score.

So at the individual utility level, my zip code should really be reading 0 g/mile for a BEV if credit is given for the offsets, or a low single digit score if the actual raw carbon number is used.

 

How does this work if one purchases 'renewable' energy from the utility?

 

Good luck with that one!! I'm sure the original intent was to give people an idea of what various cars/engines do to our environment. They probably never expected the response from our little PriusChat group!!

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The great bulk of my utility's energy is legacy large scale hydro. By this state's law, this does not count towards the 'renewable' fraction requirements. The 'renewable' credits we can individually buy are for solar, wind, biogas, new small-scale hydro, etc.

If California classifies our major hydro as 'renewable', then there is some market incentive to ship it down there.

 

Considering the website's behavior today, nebulous is pretty accurate. The site has been up and down.

 

It also means that the CO2e is only being calculated for the EV miles fuel from the grid
The HV miles remain 54 mpg

 

Fueleconomy.gov can do a more detailed analysis.
Beyond Tailpipe Emissions

They are likely using the same reference as the EPA site that shows a zip code's grid mix. Good enough for most people, and far better than using a national average.

 

I am not sure that I understand this. It is my understanding that hydropower worldwide produces 16% of total electrical energy and 71% of all renewable energy. Is there some political reason that Washington hydropower is not considered as "renewable energy"?

 

Odd statement. That page has this statement right on it:

As for the response, it is a fairly common question, which I am guessing they considered when they made the web page.

 

Yes, it is political. It was passed as Ballot Initiative I-937, the Energy Independence Act, in the general election of 2007. See Washington Initiative 937 - Wikipedia and
Chapter 19.285 RCW: ENERGY INDEPENDENCE ACT

Do remember that hydro is not without its own environmental impacts, and various groups are trying to tear down some dams in order to restore migratory fish runs and make other habitat improvements. Elwha and Glines Canyon dams are already down (Dam Removal - Overview - Olympic National Park (U.S. National Park Service)), and the lower Snake River dams (Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, Ice Harbor) have had crosshairs on them for several decades. See Snake River - Wikipedia