jaapv said:
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How did you calculate? I get my electricity by using solar panels and having part-invested in a wind turbine - I find it hard to factor the environmental costs of the construction into any calculation, the sum for running coming to zero (as long as I run on solely electricity, which I do for the majority of my trips.)
I do not rate the driving experience as quite equal to an Alto, BTW...
I was comparing the Alto with the Leaf, you know, not the PHEV!
I calculated on the basis that the major power generators seem to put their carbon footprint between 400 g/kWh and 500 g/kWh. The PHEV draws around 10 kWh per charge producing (on EDF figures) 4,800 g CO2. If you achieve the headline figure of 32 miles on a charge, then you are running at 95 g/km CO2. If you get the figure of 22 miles per charge that seems more reasonable in mixed mode driving, then you are putting out 138 g/km. An Outlander diesel claims to be able to get along at 140 g/km - ok - reality is probably not that good, but the fact remains that the PHEV is not vastly better ecologically than the diesel.
The Leaf has a 30 kWh battery and claims (probably optimistically) to be able to do 140 miles on it - that comes out at 65 g/km - not a lot better than many petrol compacts.
I don't think that having your own solar panels and windmill is particularly relevant unless you are completely isolated from the grid. We do not have 100% renewable capacity - not by a long measure - so the 10kWh you pump into your car is just 10kWh less that you can pump back into the grid and hence 10kWh more that will be generated elsewhere by burning something. Every km that you drive in your PHEV is responsible for an additional 90-odd grammes of CO2 going into the atmosphere.