Quote:
Originally Posted by sendler
No. The B class platform has been a gas car for years. And still is. To make it electric, Mercedes did a "conversion". So the extra manufacturing carbon footprint to make the batteries would be the same for them and you.
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To do a conversion i purchase cells that are a certain size, shape and capacity. Made in a way that makes them appropriate for many different applications.
I get them shipped to me as a small shipment that may travel a very convoluted path to reach me. A manufacturer would be buying in vastly larger quantities and would probably get them shipped direct to their facility by the container load. Reducing transport generated CO2 emissions.
A manufacturer that is producing large numbers of vehicles can get the cells custom made. So that instead of individual cells with enough wall strength to be used independently they can get them integrated into a module where walls between cells can be reduced. Knocking a large amount off the total amount of plastic or other material required. Reducing CO2 required to produce.
In a custom designed module cell interconnects wouldn't need to be via large terminals on each cell and bolts and washers etc, etc. Again reducing CO2 generating manufacturing steps.
There are many ways that a commercially made electric vehicle could reduce CO2 produced during manufacture. These are just a few off top of my head.
Once the people that know the abilities of large scale manufacturing and transport get their teeth stuck into the problem of CO2 reduction i bet they would be able to beat the ICE CO2 figure.