Originally Posted By: tanstaafl.
Even so, with a closed-system hydrogen fuel cell, the electricity to recharge the fuel cell has to come from somewhere, and that "somewhere" is very likely to be more polluting than the gasoline engines it replaces.

Based on this site, they broke down the CO2 and NOx output per mile of an average gas car, and an electric vehicle powered off the grid. Their summary is:
Quote:
Driving a NEV in California results in the emission of over six times less carbon dioxide, and over one thousand times less nitrogen oxides when compared to driving a traditional passenger car. When compared to a truck or SUV, the reduction is even more dramatic.

They have a full breakdown, and a link to the government reports on pollution output to back it up. It was the only thing I found in google, beyond a bunch of opinion pieces with no hard facts arguing either side.