Are Tesla Vehicles Really That Much Better For The Environment?

[SION1771]

How long will it take to recuperate that cost vs. plugging the car in and paying for juice? Is your solar dedicated only to charging the car?

Dunno - I got $5k back from Tesla for giving up Supercharging, so we bought a solar array. My math was focused on generating more electricity from our panels than the car would use, which we've achieved.

Solar feeds the grid in the day (when energy is at high demand) and draws at night (when energy is surplus). That's an added benefit to not getting batteries at our house - we're doing more to reduce ComEd's overall production requirements.

 

[brucet999]

Nobody seems to read that carefully any more. I said more polluting than a small ICE car. Not diesel, not comparably sized. I know of the relative inefficiency of ICE between 15 and 25%, compared to a modern coal, gas or oil burning energy plant. Again, the small size (and lightweight) and subsequent mpg will make it less polluting than a (big) Tesla that gets its juice from a fossil-energy plant. And I haven't even considered the production process in this.

Why are you comparing Teslas - which compete against full size luxury cars (M3) and large luxury cars (MS) and SUVs (MX) - against small cars. Most EVs are not small cars and will not displace small ICE vehicles in the market, so your comparison, IMO, is flawed from the get-go.