Skip to main content

Norwegian study finds electric cars 'pose environmental threat'

According to a study by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, electric cars might pollute much more than petrol or diesel-powered cars. Researchers found greenhouse gas emissions rose dramatically if coal was used to produce the electricity. Electric car factories also emitted more toxic waste than conventional car factories, claims their report in the Journal of Industrial Energy. However, in some cases electric cars still made sense, the researchers said.
October 5, 2012 Read time: 4 mins
According to a study by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, electric cars might pollute much more than petrol or diesel-powered cars.

Researchers found greenhouse gas emissions rose dramatically if coal was used to produce the electricity.  Electric car factories also emitted more toxic waste than conventional car factories, claims their report in the Journal of Industrial Energy.
However, in some cases electric cars still made sense, the researchers said.

The team looked at the life-cycle impact of conventional and electric vehicles, considering how the production, the use and the end-of-life dismantling of a car affects the environment.  "The production phase of electric vehicles proved substantially more environmentally intensive," the report said, comparing it to how petrol and diesel cars are made. “The global warming potential from electric vehicle production is about twice that of conventional vehicles."
Added to this, producing batteries and electric motors requires a lot of toxic minerals such as nickel, copper and aluminium, meaning the acidification impact is much greater than that of conventional car production.

"Across the other impacts considered in the analysis including potential for effects related to acid rain, airborne particulate matter, smog, human toxicity, ecosystem toxicity and depletion of fossil fuel and mineral resources, electric vehicles consistently perform worse or on par with modern internal combustion engine vehicles, despite virtually zero direct emissions during operation," according to co-author Prof Anders Hammer Stromman.

With electric car production being so damaging to the environment, these cars have already polluted a great deal by the time they hit the road, the report says.

However, if the cars were then powered by electricity made from low-carbon electricity sources, they could nevertheless offer "the potential for substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and exposure to tailpipe emissions" over time.  The report counters this by saying that in regions where fossil fuels are the main sources of power, electric cars offer no benefits and may even cause more harm.  "It is counterproductive to promote electric vehicles in regions where electricity is primarily produced from lignite, coal or even heavy oil combustion."

According to the study, electric cars do offer environmental benefits when compared with cars with internal combustion engines in Europe, where electricity is produced in a number of different ways.  "Electric vehicles powered by the present European electricity mix offer a 10 per cent to 24 per cent decrease in their global warming potential relative to conventional diesel or petrol vehicles."

The report points out that the longer an electric car in Europe stays mobile, the greater its lead over petrol and diesel engines.  "Assuming a vehicle lifetime of 200,000km exaggerates the global warming benefits of electric vehicles to 27-29 per cent relative to petrol and 17-20 per cent relative to diesel," it said.

"An assumption of 100,000km decreases the benefit of electric vehicles to 9-14 per cent with respect to petrol vehicles and results in impacts indistinguishable from those of a diesel vehicle."

Battery life has a bearing on an electric car's longevity, not least since batteries are very expensive to replace, although they are gradually improving, which could result in electric cars being used for longer.  However, as petrol and diesel engines are also improving, the relationships between the different types of vehicles are not constant.
"A more significant reduction in global warming could potentially be achieved by increasing fuel efficiency or shifting from petrol to diesel," the report said.

"If you are considering purchasing an electric vehicle for its environmental benefits, first check your electricity source and second look closely at the warranty on the batteries," said Professor Stromman.

Related Content

  • $4 per gallon gas won’t alter driving behaviour, claims national study
    May 15, 2012
    As America braces for $4 average price for gasoline and the potential fallout from breaching this psychological barrier, a new study has just been released by the Mobility Collaborative that predicts $4 per gallon is not enough to significantly reduce the number of people choosing to drive alone as single occupant vehicle travellers (SOV).
  • Report analyses multiple ITS projects to highlight cost and benefits
    March 16, 2015
    Every year in America cost benefit analysis is carried out on dozens of ITS installations and pilot studies and the findings, along with the lessons learned, are entered into the Department of Transportation’s (USDOT’s) web-based ITS Knowledge Resources database. This database holds more than 1,600 reports and periodically the USDOT reviews the material on file to draw conclusions from this wider body of evidence. It has just published one such review ITS Benefits, Costs, and Lessons Learned: 2014 Update Re
  • Philippines, Laos ready to introduce EVs
    August 12, 2013
    According to a major Japanese newspaper, Japanese carmakers see potentially profitable business opportunities in the south-east Asian EV market, with the Philippines and Laos keen to introduce electric vehicles and make EV production a key industry. The Philippines is about to embark on a programme to replace its conventional petrol-driven tricycle taxis, widely used for transportation over short distance, with EVs. With loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Philippines will invest US$500 million
  • T-Charge introduced to older vehicles in London to tackle toxic air pollution
    October 23, 2017
    To combat thousands of premature deaths caused by air pollution in London, up to 34, 000 polluting vehicles travelling into Central London every month may have to pay the T-Charge £10.00 ($13.00) which will operate on top of the Congestion Charge £11.50 ($15.00). Launched by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the T -Charge applies to drivers of pre-Euro 4 vehicles that do not meet the PM and NOx emissions and has come into effect from 7.00am on 23 October 2017.