With so many people claiming that electric vehicles are in fact bad for the environment, we take a look at the data.

We’ve all seen it in the comments sections of social media posts. There are always a few people adamant that electric vehicles pollute more than internal combustion engine vehicles.

At best, they claim the electric vehicle (EV) industry is scoring an own goal by creating a technology that, throughout a vehicle’s lifetime, pollutes more than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. At worst, they say it’s all part of a conspiracy aimed at filling the pockets of clean energy providers.

So, are electric vehicles really worse for the environment than internal combustion engine vehicles? The short answer is no. Here’s why.

The battery production conundrum

Whether you are a proponent of electric vehicles or not, one issue is widely accepted: EVs release a lot of CO2 during the manufacturing process. This is due largely to the production of lithium-ion batteries.

A new IVL report, released this month, says, “according to new calculations, the production of lithium-ion batteries on average emits somewhere between 61-106 kilos of carbon dioxide equivalents per kilowatt-hour battery capacity produced.”

However, this figure keeps improving. The figure above, for example, is an improvement on the same organization’s study in 2017 that said, “an electric car with a 100kWh battery [emits] 15-20 tons of carbon dioxide even before the vehicle ignition is turned on,” with emissions of 150 to 200 kilograms of carbon dioxide for each kilowatt-hour storage capacity in a car battery.

Read more: Interesting Engineering

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Outlawing the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles will help tackle the climate emergency, says shadow business secretary

A Labour government will aim to end the sale of cars with internal combustion engines by 2030, as part of its plans to tackle the climate emergency.

The party is to begin talks with the car industry and trade unions to explore the policies needed to achieve the goal. It says it wants to help an “under siege” industry switch to electric car production.

It comes as measures to phase out the internal combustion engine gathering pace across Europe. Earlier this month, Denmark called for a plan to phase out diesel and petrol cars and allow a ban on their sale by 2030. It was backed by 10 other EU countries.

Labour has already pledged to provide £3bn to invest in electric car models and technology. It will exempt new investment in plant and machinery from business rates. Another £2bn will go towards the construction of three battery plants.

Read more: The Guardian

Estate agents have been urged to automatically disclose air pollution figures to home buyers.

The industry trade body said providing this information should now be standard practice.

“Air quality is now public information, and it will never not be again,” said Mark Hayward, chief executive of NAEA Propertymark.

His comments came as a new website was launched which details air pollution by postcode.

The site, called addresspollution.org, uses data from King’s College London to give the level of nitrogen dioxide.

House price hit?

The website has been created by the Central Office of Public Interest (COPI), a not-for-profit campaign, the Times newspaper reports.

The site is currently limited to properties in London. It shows the concentration of nitrogen dioxide in the air and compares it to the World Health Organization’s annual legal limit of 40 micrograms per cubic metre. Long term exposure to high concentrations of the gas have been linked to early deaths.

Humphrey Milles, its founder, said he thinks it could have an impact on where new homes are built, and that data such as this should be used to determine where schools and homes for the elderly are built.

“The data shows this is isn’t just something that you are exposed to on the road, this pollution is in the air in our homes,” he said.

Read more: BBC

Study finds EVs are less polluting even after taking battery production into account

Battery electric vehicles in the UK produce half the CO2 of a traditionally fuelled car, even when their battery production is taken into account, according to new research.

A study from Imperial College London has found that the increased use of renewable and low-carbon energy generation in the UK means that, on average, charging an EV produces just a quarter of the CO2 emitted by a petrol or diesel engine.

Taking into account the production of an EV’s battery as well the CO2 emissions associated with charging it over its lifetime, the study found an EV’s CO2 contribution was around half that of an equivalent internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.

It also suggested that the “decarbonising” of the UK’s electricity supply could reduce their environmental impact further.

Read more: Independent

It is “inconceivable” that electric vehicles could be as polluting as conventional cars, new research has found, dismissing recent speculation that electric vehicles emit similar rates of CO2 to diesel vehicles when battery manufacturing is taken into account.

Instead, further decarbonisation in the UK could drive EV emissions down to 10% of conventional vehicles in the next five years.

Research by Imperial College London for Drax Electric Insights found that on average, EVs in Britain emit half the CO2 of diesel cars when the manufacturing of the battery is included and just 25% without.

After two to three years, the carbon emitted in battery production for the most efficient EVs would be saved.

This is being driven by the energy transition, with the report pointing to recent coal-free weeks and record-breaking performance of renewables that saw the carbon intensity of the grid tumble to a record low of 39g CO2/kWh.

As the UK’s decarbonisation ramps up in line with the net zero target, the CO2 being emitted by EVs could fall to a tenth of the CO2 of conventional cars within the next five years, the research found.

Read more: Current News

Breathe London – a collaborative project led by Environmental Defense Fund Europe in partnership with the Mayor’s office to monitor London’s air quality – has revealed data that shows some areas in and around London exceed legal air quality limits.

“What’s that got to do with tech?” we hear you ask. Well, rather lot really. London is a vehicle hub and what it needs is fewer vehicle emissions. The solution to that, in part, is an increase electric vehicles (EVs), therefore emitting fewer toxic emissions and helping to bring down the levels of pollution.

You only need to look at Breathe London’s website and click on one of its 100 fixed pollution monitors to track 24-hour data and it’s easy to see that during times when it’s less busy – i.e. from midnight to 6am – the levels of pollution often halve, before rising again due to traffic on the roads.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has already implemented some schemes to help lower pollution. In April 2019 the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) was introduced to deter drivers from entering a given zone. However, the £12.50 daily charge – which is in operation 24/7 – doesn’t mean drivers cannot access the capital. By 2021 the ULEZ will be expanded to cover a wider region (to the North and South Circular roads, also known as the A406).

Read more: Pocket Lint

Official new data from the EU’s environmental watchdog (EEA) shows that the CO2 emissions of new cars increased by 1.6% in 2018 to 120.4 grams of CO2 per km.

While the lack of progress in real-world emissions and fuel efficiency was known for years, [1] now even the optimised and unrealistic lab test tests can no longer hide the problem. For the first time, CO2 emissions from vans also rose, by 1.2%.

The main driver is the rising sales of polluting yet very profitable SUVs. The average petrol SUV sold last year emitted 133g CO2/km while the average of other petrol cars sold was 120g CO2/km, according to provisional EU data released today. Heavier and less aerodynamic – and therefore less fuel efficient – than other cars, SUVs now account for around a third of new cars sold in Europe – up from 7% in 2008 [2].

Julia Poliscanova, clean vehicles manager at T&E, said:

“Carmakers are playing a high risk game where they’re deliberately postponing sales of cleaner cars to maximise SUV-fueled profits. It may please their shareholders but it’s a tragedy for our planet. These figures are a stark reminder that governments need to be much more forceful when it comes to promoting zero emission vehicles, in particular by reforming vehicle taxation and rolling out charge points.”

Read more: Transport & Environment

The automotive industry could be facing a new ‘petrolgate’ emissions scandal as Emissions Analytics uncovers discrepancies in new petrol car CO2 figures.

Following the fallout of of ‘dieselgate’, which led to a considerable decline in sales of diesel vehicles across Europe, experts believe the same emissions cheating techniques may be being used on petrol vehicles.

Results from the latest WLTP-certified vehicles show that average CO2 emissions for petrol cars are falling, but real-world testing carried out by Emissions Analytics paints a different picture.

“While our real-world test results for diesel cars are in line with WLTP data, indicating that manufacturers have got their house in order over diesel, the same cannot be said for petrol,” explained Nick Molden, CEO of Emissions Analytics.

Read more: AM Online