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How green are electric cars? To fully understand the true environmental impact of electric cars, one has to examine the 'generation-to-wheel' CO2 emission cycle. Generation-to-wheel emission is zero if the electricity used to charge the car originates only from renewable energy such as wind.

I'm a car guy. I've liked cars for as long as I can remember - there's just something about them that intrigues and excites me. And I like all types of cars; I'm not strictly a sports car fanatic, or a race car fan, or a luxury automobile snob - I appreciate all types of cars, as indicated by my car ownership history.

For all the energy required to propel a vehicle, not all of it makes it to the wheels. Some of it is lost to friction and heat. Vehicle inefficiency can be classified into two categories of losses: road-load and energy conversion. At Tesla, careful attention is given to both to achieve the maximum range.

I like to talk about electric cars. I spend a lot of time telling friends about my conversion project. Conversations are struck up at gas stations (where I only stop to buy coffee of course), at the gym and at work.

Sure, lithium-ion batteries have risks, but so do gasoline-powered cars. As I write in another story today, lithium-ion batteries that power electric cars have some inherent risks, just like any way of storing energy for cars. The point of that article is that those risks can be managed, just as we've managed the risks with gasoline (see " Are Electric Vehicles a Fires Hazard?

ROBIN YOUNG, HOST: Ozzie Zehner asks provocative questions, and he says environmentalists need to do that as well. The title of his 2012 book says it all: "Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism."

Why electric vehicles? For all kinds of reasons, from financial to environmental. Jump to each section below to find out more. Saving you money Because they use electricity for all or part of their power, electric vehicles are less costly to run.