Electric vehicles: will they really drive forward the future?
Whether it be Elon Musk’s exotic Teslas or Nissan’s Leaf, it’s clear that electric vehicles are becoming more popular. In Norway, for example, 52% of all cars sold last year were electric. This seems like a lot, but in Norway environmental technology is a generation ahead, with 98% of electricity generated by hydro-power or other renewable energy sources. For comparison, 60% of the UK’s power comes from fossil fuels.
Using electric cars instead of traditional petrol or diesel cars seems like a good idea, right? Yet if you take off the rose-tinted glasses and dig a little deeper, you may find something else.
The Ricardo consultancy found that the production of an average petrol or diesel car results in emissions equivalent to 5.6 tonnes of CO2. The emissions of manufacturing an electric car, on the other hand, would amount to 8.8 tonnes. Almost half of that is produced when the battery is made. The majority of all emissions of an electric vehicle (E.V) are produced at the power plant rather than at the roadside; over its lifetime, an E.V would produce 20% fewer emissions than a traditional car. These greenhouse gases are environmentally unfriendly wherever they occur, but some would argue that they’re less harmful to human health outside of the city, rather than near schools and houses.
After you take the manufacturing footprint into account, the ‘eco-friendliness’ of the car still relies on the means in which the electricity that powers the car is generated. If the electricity that powers the car is produced entirely from a coal-fired power plant, an E.V would be little cleaner than any petrol or diesel vehicle. If the electricity is produced with natural gas, the car would have the footprint in the range of a hybrid. However, if you were to used a low-carbon renewable fuel, the electric cars would produce fewer than half the emissions of the greenest combustion vehicle. With the average U.K. power sources, an E.V would hover around the hybrid range.
Overall, it boils down to the juice that powers the car. India and Australia’s coal-heavy power grid compensates for the low roadside emissions, meaning that, given net emissions, their electric cars effectively function as silent petrol cars. In order for Elon Musk’s dream to become a reality, these countries need to take a (Nissan) leaf out of Switzerland and Norway’s power books.
Joseph Goodsell, Year 8
Using electric cars instead of traditional petrol or diesel cars seems like a good idea, right? Yet if you take off the rose-tinted glasses and dig a little deeper, you may find something else.
The Ricardo consultancy found that the production of an average petrol or diesel car results in emissions equivalent to 5.6 tonnes of CO2. The emissions of manufacturing an electric car, on the other hand, would amount to 8.8 tonnes. Almost half of that is produced when the battery is made. The majority of all emissions of an electric vehicle (E.V) are produced at the power plant rather than at the roadside; over its lifetime, an E.V would produce 20% fewer emissions than a traditional car. These greenhouse gases are environmentally unfriendly wherever they occur, but some would argue that they’re less harmful to human health outside of the city, rather than near schools and houses.
After you take the manufacturing footprint into account, the ‘eco-friendliness’ of the car still relies on the means in which the electricity that powers the car is generated. If the electricity that powers the car is produced entirely from a coal-fired power plant, an E.V would be little cleaner than any petrol or diesel vehicle. If the electricity is produced with natural gas, the car would have the footprint in the range of a hybrid. However, if you were to used a low-carbon renewable fuel, the electric cars would produce fewer than half the emissions of the greenest combustion vehicle. With the average U.K. power sources, an E.V would hover around the hybrid range.
Overall, it boils down to the juice that powers the car. India and Australia’s coal-heavy power grid compensates for the low roadside emissions, meaning that, given net emissions, their electric cars effectively function as silent petrol cars. In order for Elon Musk’s dream to become a reality, these countries need to take a (Nissan) leaf out of Switzerland and Norway’s power books.
Joseph Goodsell, Year 8
