Experts have denied the view that electric cars are not much greener than cars with internal combustion engines. It turned out that the electric car emits less greenhouse gases throughout the life cycle than in cars with internal combustion engines, The Verge states.
The International Clean Transport Council study says that it does not matter where the electric car’s battery is charged – in Europe, where renewable energy is developed, or in India, where there is more dependence on coal-fired power plants.
“We have a lot of lobbyists from the automotive industry who say that electric cars are a little more environmentally friendly when you take into account the production of electricity and batteries. We wanted to look into this and see if these arguments were correct,” said Georg Bicker, one of the ICCT researchers.
The study took into account emissions from medium-sized electric vehicles registered in India, China, the United States, and Europe in 2021. The analysis showed that for the entire life cycle of an electric car in Europe, the emission level is 66-69% lower compared to a gasoline car. In the US, electric cars produce 60-68% less emissions. In China, where there is still a large share of coal-fired power plants, the level of emissions from electric vehicles is lower by 37-45%, in India – by 19-34%.
Researchers note that the production of electric vehicles emits more emissions than the creation of traditional transport. However, after a year of using the electric car, these figures are leveling off. Disposal of electric car batteries will also further reduce harmful emissions.
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Electric cars in 2025 will be more profitable than traditional cars, according to Volkswagen
In the European Union in 2025, cars with internal combustion engines may become less profitable than electric cars, Financial Times reports. This is due to the introduction of new Euro-7 requirements.
According to Thomas Ulbrich, head of Volkswagen brand development, the new standards will force manufacturers to use more expensive technologies to reduce CO2 emissions in cars with internal combustion engines.
He believes that “with Euro-7 there will be huge problems for the world of internal combustion engines.” In particular, the introduction of this standard will primarily hit small cars.
Klaus Zelmer, a member of Volkswagen’s supervisory board for sales and marketing, said that the company plans to completely close the production of cars with internal combustion engines in Europe by 2035. Later, the company will abandon non-environmentally friendly cars in other regions of the world.
Deutsche Welle writes that the reason for Volkswagen’s statement was probably the EU’s plans to introduce in July 2021 even stricter standards for reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere.
The publication writes that Ulbrich’s forecast is one of the strictest for the industry, which, with some exceptions, earns much more money on the sale of traditional gasoline engines than electric ones.
Euro-7 standards provide for a 90% reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions from 2025 compared to the previous standard in new buses and trucks. Carbon monoxide emissions in all new cars will be reduced by three or even ten times. As a result, by 2050, nitrogen oxide emissions from cars will be reduced by 93% compared to 2027.
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How different technologies, from electric cars to bubble wrap, emerged? We always were curious about it, do you? Have a look at the inventions that the world did not immediately appreciate here.
