Do electric cars release exhaust?

Directly: no. Indirectly: maybe yes, maybe no. Indirectly, but a little deeper: more likely yes. Electric vehicles, mainly BEVs, do not emit exhaust other then heat. Hence why the design of the EV has no tailpipe. read more

There is certainly a general assumption that electric cars are "cleaner" than petrol/diesel/hybrid cars, but you are quite right to point out that electric cars cannot claim to be "emissions free" if they are powered from an energy grid supplied by power stations burning coal or gas. read more

The energy in a battery used to operate a car is supplied by the electric utility when you plug in the car to charge up the battery. If the power plant uses coal, gas, oil, wood, etc, exhaust is produced AT THE POWER PLANT. read more