Think about it. First, coal-fired power plants do not only emit carbon dioxide, but also other harmful gases; for example, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. The amount of emissions from these harmful gases is much higher than what comes from gasoline cars. Secondly, the damage to the environment is greater when manufacturing electric cars. First you need to produce a lithium battery. The volume of these lithium batteries is huge, so it is costly to manufacture them. Tesla's batteries are even more expensive as they are bigger and stronger than the competitor's. Many electric car batteries use rare earth elements, that are scarce, and which are costly to extract. Tesla's AC induction motor doesn't use rare earth materials, but the company's engineer also admits that when producing Model S cars, the consumption of energy is more than for a Camry. Therefore, in the beginning, before you get on the road, Model S cars have already caused much more severe pollution that other cars. The longer you drive it, the greener it will then become.