Are electric cars actually bad for the environment?

New research suggests that you have to drive an electric car a long, long way for it to be greener than a gas-guzzling vehicle

A hybrid car is plugged into a charging station in San Francisco, Calif.: Electric cars may have bigger carbon footprints than their gas-guzzling competitors, according to a new study.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Production of electric cars is speeding up, as Ford prepares to introduce its C-Max Energi next year to compete with General Motors' much-hyped Chevrolet Volt. But a new British study suggests that electric vehicles might not be as green as environmentalists think. Because of pollution from the factories that make batteries, an electric car has a bigger carbon footprint than a gas-burning vehicles until it's traveled 80,000 miles, according to the research, which was financed by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership. Does this mean electric cars aren't good for the planet after all?

Yes, these vehicles are bad for the environment: Electric cars just aren't "a green option," says Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. "Not only do electric vehicles produce just as much carbon in their overall cycle as internal-combustion engines, the need to replace the batteries actually makes them less green than current technology." If we want a cleaner way to get around, "the answer is natural gas, not electric vehicles."

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