interview > frank > frank 7

Frank 7 (1:06)
Topic(s): Electric & Hybrid / Environment
User Comments

© WGBH Educational Foundation

Please watch the clip first. If you plan to use it, review the Rules of Use, then click on the download button.

This clip is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Video Transcript

90 percent of the energy used on the annual basis in a plug-in hybrid comes from electricity; most of its emissions is the emissions of the power plant. But, on a per-mile basis here in the state of California, that's like one quarter or less of the emissions of a conventional car. And that includes the power plant laws, of course. And in the Midwest where most of the coal is—most of the electric energy is generated by coal—then with 100 percent coal-fired electricity, the emissions is about a wash. It's just as clean using electricity or is, that is, coming out of the tail pipe of a conventional car. That's with today's power plants. With tomorrow's power plants, with the new emissions standards coming in, the plug-in hybrid will be cleaner than the conventional car.