From the WSJ (3/5/24):
Electric Cars Emit More Soot
They have greater tire wear, the source of most particulate matter. California is trying to conceal that fact.
“[B]anning gasoline cars would do little to reduce particulate emissions, and it could even increase them,” they conclude.
But the news gets worse for proponents of electric cars: they’re not “zero-emission” at all:
California calls electric cars “zero emissions vehicles” because they don’t have tailpipes. That is deceptive. Generating the electricity that powers those cars creates particulate pollution, and of course electric cars still use tires, which are made from petroleum. Electric cars weigh far more than gasoline-powered ones, so their tires degrade faster, as electric car buyers are learning.
From Red State:
“California says tailpipes are the problem with fossil-fuel-powered cars, but the WSJ writers argue that tire wear from the far-heavier EVs is more contaminating:
Where do most particulate emissions attributed to cars come from? California speaks as if their primary source is the tailpipe. That was true in the past. But today most vehicle-related particulate matter comes from tire wear. Cars are heavy, and as their tires rub against the road, they degrade and release tiny, often toxic particles. According to measurements by an emission-analytics firm, in gasoline cars equipped with a particle filter, airborne tire-wear emissions are more than 400 times as great as direct exhaust particulate emissions.
But the news gets worse for proponents of electric cars: they’re not “zero-emission” at all:
California calls electric cars “zero emissions vehicles” because they don’t have tailpipes. That is deceptive. Generating the electricity that powers those cars creates particulate pollution, and of course electric cars still use tires, which are made from petroleum. Electric cars weigh far more than gasoline-powered ones, so their tires degrade faster, as electric car buyers are learning.
So it appears that EVs are not the saviors that they are advertised to be.
I look forward to a response to this WSJ article by Biden and Newsom … but, of course, no surprise, nothing will be forthcoming!
3/5/24