E85 Electic Tesla Carbon Footprint Study

A study by Biofuels Digest has found that cars running on E85 corn-based ethanol, at the proposed new Corporate Average Fuel Economy or CAFE standards, will generate 30% lower CO2 emissions over an average car lifetime than a Tesla all-electric sports car using coal-fired power station electricity.

The findings¹ are based on the GREET? ² model for corn ethanol lifecycle emissions, as published by the Argonne National Laboratory?; e85 fuel economy figures as established in the most recent University of Nebraska study³; Tesla’s reports on miles per KWh⁴, Department of Transportation figures on auto lifespan, EIA data on electricity prices⁵, E85 price data⁶, and EPA figures⁷ on emissions from coal-fired power generation compiled by the Energy Information Administration or EIA.

Here are some of the key findings of the Biofuels Digest analysis and report:

• The Tesla will create 21% higher CO² emissions than a car running conventional e10 gasoline, at the proposed CAFE standards.
• Based on current ethanol prices, the total increase in cost of ownership for running an E85 vehicle in the US is $19 per year, compared to a non-flex fuel vehicle running conventional e10 gasoline
• E85 will save an average of 6 tons of CO² emissions over the average life of a vehicle, when utilizing corn ethanol
• e85 will save up to 36 tons of CO² when running on cellulosic ethanol derived from waste biomass.
• Results varied from state to state based on the cost of ethanol, gasoline and residential electric power. An example by the Digest for New York state found that running E85 corn ethanol decreases total cost of ownership by $57 per year compared to conventional gasoline.
• Annual operating savings for the two types of vehicles (e85 and the Tesla showed that the all-electric Tesla owner will save $4,674 in energy costs over the lifetime of the vehicle by paying less for power than liquid transportation fuel, but pay $12,000 in additional cost of a lithium ion battery (Tesla’s battery replacement charge). In New York state, the energy savings for operating an all-electric vehicle such as the Tesla are $1,424 compared to E85 corn ethanol, far less than the premium paid for the lithium-ion electric battery pack.
• Cars running on E85 corn-based ethanol at the proposed new CAFE standards will generate 10% lower CO² emissions over an average car lifetime than a Chevy Volt running solely on electric power – although the Chevrolet is a hybrid engine that would routinely add gasoline into the mix. A Volt using a 50/50 mix of e10 gasoline and electric power would generate 13 percent more CO² than an E85 car running on corn ethanol.

The US DOE recently provided a $465 million low-interest loan to Tesla to produce an all-electric sedan that is meant to be more consumer affordable called the Model S. Production of the vehicles should begin in 2011. Applying the same approach to the Model S, the Digest concludes that the federal loan to Tesla, which will empower the production of 20,000 sedans, would increase US CO² emissions by up to 76,000 tons by comparison to 20,000 flex-fuel cars running E85 corn ethanol.

References

• ¹ Study findings and Excel spreadsheet download
• ² GREET Model
• ³ Fuel efficiency from higher ethanol blends
• ⁴ Tesla's report on miles per KWH
• ⁵ http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html
• ⁶ e85 Prices.com
• ⁷Carbon Dioxide Emissions from the Generation of Electric Power in the United States

External links

• Biofuels Digest
• CAFE
• Energy Information Administration