Comments jwells has made

Not Quite...

I agree with many of your comments, but here too there are "a few inaccuracies that I feel obligated to clear up."

What matters is the grid average...

Not so. As the EPRI report says, "Marginal GHG intensity of the PHEV charging load can vary significantly from average GHG intensity." I don't  know what each utility will crank-up to charge PHEVs, but it won't be the grid average.

1. The average car today produces about 12,000 pounds CO2 and moves about 12,000 miles annually.
2. A Prius produces about 6000 pounds CO2 annually if driven the same miles.

The EPRI report shows per-mile CO2 emissions for a "conventional vehicle" as about 50% higher than an HEV.

If that were so the bars on the following chart would all be the same length...

Not so. Utilities choose when to use their hydro capacity, but the total energy is limited by the water behind the dam, and that's not easily increased.

The report says that every plug-in hybrid that hits the road from today on will produce far fewer greenhouse gases even with today's mix of power generation.

Not so. It says that every scenario shows cumulative GHG reductions over the period 2010-2050. As for today (or rather 2010, from Fig. 5.1 in the report), a PHEV is certainly better than a conventional car, but may or may not be better than a HEV depending on what is used to charge it.
On The debate on plug-ins begins posted 2 years ago 12 Responses