Electric Car Life-Cycle Analysis: Renault Fluence ZE Vs Diesel, Gas Models

The environmental impact of plug-in electric cars is a source for much debate these days.

They use less energy on a wells-to-wheels carbon basis than the vast majority of new cars sold in North America, even if they're recharged on coal-heavy electric grids.

But the manufacturing impact is greater--and the degree to which that is the case has been hotly debated for several years now.

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Proper life-cycle analyses of electric cars are hard to do, and expensive.

They require a great deal of careful investigation into the sources of the materials, the transportation of the raw materials and parts before they reach the assembly plant, and then the carbon impact of that assembly process.

Now, however, thanks to a tip from a reader, we've got a nice model of a comprehensive lifecycle analysis that compares the electric version of a car to its non-electric counterpart.

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The car is the Renault Fluence ZE, the electric conversion of a French compact sedan not sold in North America.