I drove past a gas station today with about ten electric vehicles charging. It made me wonder... how much water is associated with generating the electricity charging those cars?
A Tesla typically uses about 0.25 kWh per mile.
Using a commonly cited estimate of 1.8 liters of water per kWh of electricity generation, 0.25 kWh/mile × 1.8 L/kWh = 0.45 L/mile. That's about 0.12 gallons of water per mile, roughly:
1 gallon of water every 8 miles.
I'm not arguing that electric vehicles are bad. I'm asking a different question: How much water does electricity use, and why do we only talk about it for certain technologies? Why do we think about the water footprint of electricity when the conversation is about AI and data centers, and rarely consider it when it's about electric vehicles, homes, factories, or hospitals? The same electricity powers homes, hospitals, factories, electric vehicles, and AI.
Sometimes the most interesting part of a story isn't the data.
It's why we started measuring one thing and not another.
Watch the video here.
Reader Responses
After publishing this short on platforms such as LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram, people shared questions, critiques, and alternative perspectives. I've selected a few excerpts and included my responses below. Names have been removed to keep the focus on the ideas rather than the individuals.
Reader: You measure data centers by energy usage because they turn watts into bits. That process requires cooling. Electric cars use electricity but do not require water cooling because they turn electricity into force.
My response: You're describing onsite cooling, which absolutely contributes to a data center's water use.
The number I'm referring to is the widely reported "AI uses X gallons of water" figures, which often come from a lifecycle approach that includes the water associated with generating the electricity consumed by the data center—not just the water used for cooling onsite.
My question is: if we're going to attribute the water associated with generating electricity to AI, shouldn't we apply that same accounting to every major consumer of electricity—electric vehicles, homes, factories, hospitals, etc.?
I'm less interested in the number than in understanding what the number actually represents.
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Reader: Another question to ponder, how much water to produce 1 gallon of gasoline ? Giveaway : 3-6 gallons of water per gallon of gas. ⛽️ A binary view is myopic.
Your Thoughts?
I'm interested in hearing your perspective. Share your thoughts, questions, or alternative viewpoints in the comments below.