Debate on Electric Cars Not Exhausted

Jim Montgomery says (Letters, Nov. 3): “One writer correctly stated that electric vehicles are not truly pollution-free because electricity used to charge the cars may be generated from polluting sources. But his concern that the EVs will be more polluting than an internal combustion vehicle (ICV) is incorrect.

Numerous studies, from organizations such as the South Coast Air Quality Management District, document that EVs pollute less than ICVs even when accounting for electric generation needed by EVs.

According to Scientific American (November 1996), battery-powered electric cars, if they were accepted universally, would slash production of major urban pollutants, according to simulations. Pollution from power plants, however, would in some cases partially offset these gains or even increase certain kinds of pollution, especially in countries (such as Britain and the U.S.) that rely heavily on coal and oil.

Scientific American lists increases for sulfur dioxides at 203% and for particulates at 122% if electric vehicles were adopted in the U.S. Now it may well be that the overall result of EV use, if everyone pays attention to details, will prove they are less polluting, but we need to stop referring to them, incorrectly, as nonpolluting.

LAWRENCE I. IVEY

Malibu