How Environment-friendly are Electric Vehicles?

 Arguments for and against electric vehicles

Electric cars are touted as environmentally friendly vehicles. Tesla, the pioneer brand of electric cars, proudly markets its vision of a green future. With more and more reputed automobile companies slowly entering the sector, it looks like the future will become fully electric and internal combustion engines might perish from the scene.

However, every time electric vehicles come into discussion, the opinions are divided. Some people argue that electric cars are worse than conventional cars when it comes to environmental damage.

So, how eco-friendly are electric vehicles?

The answer isn’t a clear-cut one.

Climate change is an existential threat to the living beings of the earth. The infamous greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are among the primary culprits that cause climate change. To check the damage, the reduction of carbon footprint is a 21st-century priority among policymakers.

Electric vehicles are known to have zero emissions. However, the main arguments against electric vehicles put forward are –

1.       The manufacturing process of its batteries

2.       Supply of electricity

The primary difference between electric cars and traditional cars with internal combustion engines is the method of transforming energy. Electric cars have lithium-ion batteries. Central arguments against electric vehicles revolve around the manufacturing process of their batteries.

Electric cars don’t emit carbon dioxide when it is being driven. That part is true, but, however, it is not exactly a zero-emission product. The emission occurs in three ways – manufacturing, source of energy, and recycling.

Battery Production:

The initial carbon footprint during the production of an electric car is greater than the production of conventional cars. In fact, the environmental impact of manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles is alone greater than the impact of internal combustion engines.

Electric cars and conventional cars – have pretty much the same manufacturing process. Nevertheless, the manufacturing of Electric cars generates more carbon emissions. Electric cars store energy in lithium-ion batteries. The batteries are made of raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, graphite, and nickel. These materials have to come from somewhere. This requires mining since the materials are only found beneath the ground. And, the mining process is extremely polluting.

Average electric vehicle production emits around 10 metric tons of co2, while the average carbon emission for a traditional car’s production is only 7 metric tons. Average battery production for an electric vehicle can go as high as 20 metric tons in total. The larger the battery, the greater the amount of carbon emission. Powerful batteries are required for long-range drives.

Mining:

Bolivia Salt Lake

The mining and processing of rare earth elements lead to the use of more energy and the emission of toxic wastes. It takes 750 tons of brine to produce 1 ton of lithium. 75 tons of acid waste and 1 ton of radioactive waste are produced in the process of collecting 1 ton of raw materials for an electric vehicle. Mining can also cause significant contamination of the local ecosystem.

The biggest reserve of lithium lies in the Lithium Triangle, which is covered by three countries – Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. This place covers nearly half the supply of global demand. The whole process of extracting lithium - from drilling holes on the ground to evaporation and filtering – takes around 12 to 18 months. This process requires plenty of water – 500,000 gallons per ton. In Chile, miners have consumed 65% of the local water supply, affecting local farming. Lithium mining also has a detrimental effect on local air and water supply. It contaminates streams of water used by local inhabitants and farmers and pollutes the earth.

However, the earth has enough supply of lithium. The reports estimate there’s reserve for at least 200 years even if the demand grows significantly. In the future, lithium can be extracted from seawater too if required. The other elements used in lithium-ion batteries – cobalt and nickel – also bring ethical dilemmas. The democratic republic of Congo contains the biggest reserve in the world of these rare earth elements. In Congo, cobalt can be literally dug up with hands. The use of child labor without enough protective tools is also an issue in mining raw materials.

Production:

Battery cell manufacturing is responsible for half the carbon emission of the entire process, so the production method is also an issue. The whole process of production needs to develop a more environment-friendly method.

Recycling:

The environmental issue doesn’t stop in mining and production; recycling is an issue too. According to reports, only 2% of Australia’s total lithium-ion batteries are recycled every year, while 99% of the lead-acid batteries of conventional cars are recycled. The rest ends up in landfills. As the demand for electric vehicles grows, the industry will have to find a working solution to the recycling problem. Lithium-ion batteries are potentially explosive too. There have been reported incidents of fire accidents.

Source of Energy:

Electric vehicles need electricity to run. The second argument used against electric vehicles is the source of energy. The cars may not emit carbon, but if the source of energy consumed by the vehicles burns fossil fuels, they are still emitting carbon into the environment. More than two-thirds of the power plant in the US use fossil fuels. The critics argue that electric vehicles can end up contributing to more emissions than traditional internal combustion engines.

So, are electric vehicles really green?

We have seen that electric cars aren’t exactly zero-emission as they are touted. However, the difference appears when we compare the overall life-cycle of electric cars and conventional cars. Electric vehicles indeed have a bigger carbon footprint during their initial period, but the emission begins to reduce significantly with time. Research has proved that it takes only 2.4 years of driving for cars to recover the emission from manufacturing.

Electric cars produce less carbon than conventional cars. While electric cars emit little to no carbon while it is being driven, an average traditional car emits 5.2 metric tons of greenhouse gas per year. Over the entire lifespan of the car, it contributed to around 50 metric tons of carbon emission. The fuel used by conventional cars also needs to be mined from somewhere. The whole process from extraction of crude oil to consumption has a heavy environmental impact. The oil refining process emits more than 700 million tons of carbon dioxide. Refinement factories emit a whopping 280 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas a year.

Compared to internal combustion engines, electric cars emit around 28 metric tons of carbon during their lifespan. Even though the initial carbon footprint is very high, it is substantially reduced over time.

Electric vehicles are still new. It is expected that the manufacturing process will become more efficient in the future. An efficient manufacturing process is key to reducing the production impact. Besides, the world is slowly moving towards cleaner renewable energy sources like – solar energy, windmill, nuclear, etc. Countries are considering alternatives for fossil fuel-run power plants. As the demand for electric vehicles rises, the sector is also expected to develop more efficient battery technology and recycling solutions.

In conclusion, the average electric vehicle even with a heavy power source like a coal power plant will emit significantly less carbon than the internal combustion engines. In the long run, electric cars are always better than conventional cars. Electric vehicles will be the cars of the future as the world moves to eco-friendlier energy-efficient methods.