How green are electric vehicles?

Electric cars are the future:
Futures Forum: All you want to know about ELECTRIC CARS >>> 

But what about all that 'embedded carbon'?
Futures Forum: What to do about car emissions ... and embodied carbon ...

Here's a look, from the Guardian - from 2010:

What's the carbon footprint of ... a new car?

Making a new car creates as much carbon pollution as driving it, so it's often better to keep your old banger on the road than to upgrade to a greener model. 

Mike Berners-Lee and Duncan Clark

Thu 23 Sep 2010 07.30 BST
The upshot is that – despite common claims to contrary – the embodied emissions of a car typically rival the exhaust pipe emissions over its entire lifetime. Indeed, for each mile driven, the emissions from the manufacture of a top-of-the-range Land Rover Discovery that ends up being scrapped after 100,000 miles may be as much as four times higher than the tailpipe emissions of a Citroen C1.

With this in mind, unless you do very high mileage or have a real gas-guzzler, it generally makes sense to keep your old car for as long as it is reliable – and to look after it carefully to extend its life as long as possible. If you make a car last to 200,000 miles rather than 100,000, then the emissions for each mile the car does in its lifetime may drop by as much as 50%, as a result of getting more distance out of the initial manufacturing emissions.

When you do eventually replace your car, it obviouslty makes sense to do so with a light, simple and fuel-efficient model: that way you'll be limiting both the manufacturing and the exhaust-pipe emissions. But before you buy, look into car clubs, especially if you live in a city centre: you may save lots of money as well as reducing the number of cars that need to be produced.

Of course, the exact benefits of new versus old cars, diesel versus hybrids, car clubs versus owning, and so on, are different for each person. To find out the greenest choice for you, check out the new interactive greener car guide at Startuk.org.

Manufacturing a car creates as much carbon as driving it | Environment | The Guardian

It's very complicated to calculate:
Embodied Energy/Carbon in stuff

The Green Car Congress would say electric and hybrid are 'green':
The Carbon Footprint Of Tesla Manufacturing - Green Car Congress
Ricardo study finds electric and hybrid cars have a higher carbon footprint during production than conventional vehicles, but still offer a lower footprint over the full life cycle - Green Car Congress

Yesterday on the BBC World Service, questions were asked:

How Green Are Electric Vehicles?

CrowdScience

Electric cars are labelled as ‘zero emissions’ vehicles – but what does that really mean? Jack Stewart puts your questions about EVs to the experts. According to a new report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, just how green your EV is compared to a petrol or diesel vehicle, depends on how the electricity powering the battery was produced, as well as how cleanly the battery itself was manufactured. Jack also explores what could be a compelling alternative to plugging in – filing up with Hydrogen, and creating nothing but water as exhaust.

BBC World Service - CrowdScience, How Green Are Electric Vehicles?

Here are a couple of sideways looks at the car:
Transport: breaking through the impasse | Innovation | Transport | spiked
Of Flying Cars and the Declining Rate of Profit - Baffler
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