Aptera emissions: Some comparison calculations

[KarenRei]

"A car manufactured today produces two orders of magnitude fewer regulated emissions than one made in the early 1990s." (http://www.ecolane.co.uk/content/dcs/Camden_LCA_Report_FINAL_10_03_2006.pdf)

Euro IV (2006) limits on gasoline vehicles:

CO: 1.0 g/km
HC: 0.1 g/km
NOx: 0.08 g/km

Euro IV (2006) limits on diesel vehicles:

CO: 0.5 g/km
NOx: 0.25 g/km
HC+NOx: 0.3 g/km
PM10: 0.025 g/km

Sulphur is extremely low in modern vehicle emissions, especially gasoline (having trouble finding specific numbers on how common it is, though). CO2 emissions from a 50mpg gasoline car are 110 ~g/km.

Aptera Typ-1e has a 10kWh battery and goes 120 mi at 55 mph. This means 83Wh/mi, which is 52 Wh/km (1 kWh = 19.2 km)

Typical electricity emissions in London (most of the power from coal) are: (http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/environment/air_quality/docs/laei2003_manual.rtf)

CO2: 588 g/kWh
CO: 0.093 g/kWh
NOx: 1.69 g/kWh
HC: 0.070 g/kWh
SO2: 2.31 g/kWh
All PM combined: 0.26 g/kWh

This means that an Aptera Typ-1e, running off this power mix, gets:

CO2: 30.6 g/km (28% of that of a 50mpg car; 14% compared to a 25mpg car; 7% compared to a 12mpg car)
CO: 0.0048 g/km (0.5% of the Euro IV limit for gasoline vehicles and 1.0% of that for diesels)
NOx: 0.088 g/km (110% of the Euro IV limit for gasoline vehicles and 35% of that for diesels)
HC: 0.0036 g/km (3.6% of the Euro IV limit for gasoline vehicles)
SO2: 0.12 g/km
All PM combined: 0.014 g/km (All particulate matter combined is 56% of the Euro IV limit for diesels' PM10 alone)

Remember, when comparing these numbers with a car, that A) these emissions aren't in cities; they're displaced away from population centers; B) this is with normal, dirty power generation, not next-gen clean power; C) it's much easier to clean up existing power plants than vehicles on the road; and D) this is comparison to cars that have improved "two orders of magnitude" in emissions since the early 90s.

[KarenRei]

Oh, and a little more about all of the pollutants:

CO2: According to the IPCC, the largest contributor, by a good margin, to global warming. Relatively harmless apart from that.
CO: A highly potent poison that permanently weakens the heart, among other effects.
NOx: Lung irritants that produce the stereotypical brownish "smog haze"
HC: Irritatants, some of which are carcinogenic.
SO2: An irritant and the prime source of acid rain. On the upside, it contributes to global cooling by seeding cloud formation.
PM10: Respiratory disorders

[RoxChkPlusOny]

Karen, do you know how European cars are managing to have such low CO2 emissions, considering the Typ-1e is rated about 30x what the Euro standard is?

[KarenRei]

Where did the 30x number come from?

Most of the new, fuel-efficient European cars I've seen are in the 120-160 g/km range. Which is certainly better than their American counterparts, mind you. They get these numbers by using diesels, which are more popular in Europe than in the US. Diesels typically outperform hybrids on the highway but do worse in-city.

[RoxChkPlusOny]

Euro IV (2006) limits on gasoline vehicles:

CO: 1.0 g/km
HC: 0.1 g/km
NOx: 0.08 g/km

That was me getting confused at the CO. I saw carbon monoxide but read carbon dioxide... who knows. Does Euro IV specify CO2 limits?

[KarenRei]

Currently, there is none, although there are proposals to add one. There's a voluntary goal of an average of 140g/km for 2008 (previous average is 160g/km), which is equivalent to about 40mpg. The Aptera, thus, emits about 22% of the European *goal* CO2 emission for 2008 :)