Electric vehicles (EVs) have received a lot of attention in recent years, and one of the main hot topics regarding EVs is how their environmental impact compares to that of fuel vehicles, many of which are touted as having zero emissions. In fact, while EVs do not directly produce greenhouse gases while driving, they do produce emissions from the manufacturing process and the source of electricity, so the claim of “zero emissions” must be false. In order to compare the environmental impacts of fuel vehicles and EVs, it is important to make a comprehensive comparison in terms of production and use.

Environmental impacts of fuel vehicles and electric vehicles in the production process

(1) In the production process, except for the body structure, most of the components of fuel vehicles and electric vehicles are different, such as the unique charging system and MCU, BMS, and the unique engine of fuel vehicles.

Fuel vehicles have more total components than electric vehicles, and the power components of electric vehicles are only about 60% of those of fuel vehicles, but this does not mean that fuel vehicles produce more emissions. On the contrary, electric vehicles produce more emissions from the production of these components than fuel vehicles.

(2) In addition to the power components mentioned above, electric vehicles have a core component, the battery, that generates a significant amount of emissions during the manufacturing process. The most common large-scale lithium batteries for modern electric vehicles are inseparable from the use of lithium, nickel, cobalt and other minerals, and the mining and excavation of these minerals, the purification and utilization of a large number of other energy sources, other energy sources of different types, the resulting emissions are also different.

Research shows that the emissions generated by electric vehicles are about 80% higher than those of fuel vehicles.

Environmental Impacts of Electric Vehicle Electricity Use

(1) The environmental impact of driving an electric vehicle is less than that of a fuel vehicle, and the specific difference in impact between the two depends on the source of the EV’s electricity. The energy source of the grid system used in different regions may be very different, for example, most of Norway’s power source for hydroelectric power, then its use of electricity emissions will be very small, compared to fossil fuel combustion as the main source of electricity in the region, the use of the same amount of electricity will be much larger emissions.

(2) The source of electricity will also affect the emissions of the automobile production process, different factories on the use of renewable energy such as wind, hydroelectric energy, solar power system, etc., different percentages, such as the United States to natural gas, etc., and China to coal combustion, the process of converting other energy sources into electricity will affect the carbon emissions generated in the process of the battery production of the emissions generated.

Environmental Impacts of Driving Fuel Vehicles

The main source of carbon emissions from fuel vehicles is during the use (driving) phase. According to the study, the carbon emissions from fuel vehicles in China during general driving are about 74% of their total carbon emissions including production. Carbon emissions are also related to the type of fuel vehicle; in general, the larger the model, the higher the share of emissions generated during driving in its total emissions.

Summarizing

The study suggests that electric vehicles can catch up with more emissions from manufacturing than from fuel vehicles after a certain number of hours or kilometers of driving, and it has been analyzed that the time to catch up varies from country to country depending on the source of electricity generation, etc. It is expected that the time to catch up for the major countries that produce and use electric vehicles will be between 2 and 10 years by around 2030.

Outlook

With renewable energy sources currently making up a growing proportion of the national power grids, the use of more green energy sources will further reduce the carbon emissions from the production and use of electric vehicles, and in the future there is much more scope for reducing the environmental impact of electric vehicles compared to fuel vehicles.