Isra-Mart srl: Electric vehicle lifecycle emissions undercut conventional cars

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Electric vehicles (EVs) produce more emissions than conventional cars in production, but still have far lower carbon footprints over their lifetimes, according to a new study that "dispels the myth" that low carbon cars transfer emissions from exhaust to manufacture.

The research conducted by UK advisory group LowCVP calculates that a typical medium-sized family car will pump out 24 tonnes of CO2 compared to just 19 tonnes for EVs and plug-in hybrids, and 21 tonnes for standard hybrids.

However, producing EVs cranks out a sizeable 8.8 tonnes of carbon, compared to 5.6 tonnes for standard fuel cars, meaning that 46 per cent of an EV's lifetime emissions are generated before the car even hits the road.

Almost half of an EV's embedded emissions are down to its battery, which shows the importance of decarbonising the process for making batteries and the national electricity supply if a shift to electric transportation is to be genuinely low carbon, LowCVP said.

The organisation wants more manufacturers to follow the examples of Toyota and Nissan which have respectively installed solar panels and wind turbines at car-producing factories.

LowCVP also calls for the introduction of low weight, low carbon alternatives to current steels, which account for around 75 per cent of a car's production emissions.

"This work dispels the myth that low carbon vehicles simply displace emissions from the exhaust to other sources," said Greg Archer, managing director of LowCVP.

"However, it does highlight the need to look at reducing carbon emissions from vehicles throughout their lifecycle."