- Electric car production creates up to 70% more emissions than petrol equivalent
The environmental benefit of electric cars may never be felt – with their production creating up to 70 per cent more emissions than their petrol equivalent.
Electric cars need to be used for tens of thousands of miles before they offset the higher releases, with VW’s e-Golf becoming more environmentally friendly only after 77,000 miles, according to the manufacturer’s own figures.
But there are fears that many such vehicles will never hit their mileage target as owners upgrade to newer models, leaving swathes of used electric cars sitting unwanted on garage forecourts.
The vast majority of car purchases in the UK are made using credit plans, which offer customers the chance to swap their car for a new vehicle after a three-year term, which is unlikely to be enough time to offset the emissions.
Personal Contract Purchases (PCP) boomed in popularity thanks to the rock-bottom interest rates of the past decade and allowed consumers to pay off their car in monthly instalments.
Britain’s car finance obsession could undermine the climate goals of the Government, as a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars looms in 2030.
Ministers hope the ban – which extends to hybrid cars by 2035 – will be a decisive factor in the country reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Yet electric vehicles (EVs) can play a role in this goal only if they remain on the road long enough.
Volvo revealed in 2021 that the emission from the production of electric cars can be up to 70 per cent higher than petrol models and said it would require between 30,000 and 68,400 miles for an EV to become greener overall, which typically takes four to nine years.
This is chiefly due to the batteries used to power electric cars. They require raw materials such as cobalt and lithium that need to be mined in places such as Africa and South America before being transported across the globe.
The environmental toll of EV manufacturing led actor Rowan Atkinson to recently claim he felt ‘a little duped’ by electric cars as he urged people to keep hold of their petrol vehicles for longer.
The RAC has claimed the popularity of car finance would not have a detrimental impact on the environment because it would mean more EVs end up on the used market. But research this month suggested car buyers are reluctant to buy used EVs due to concerns over the long-term health of batteries and the wider capacity of Britain’s charging infrastructure.
A report by the Green Finance Institute found 61 per cent of drivers would be interested in buying an EV, but barely a quarter would be willing to buy a used model.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: ‘EV uptake continues to grow, both in the new and used markets, with ever more drivers switching on to the benefits of zero-emission motoring.
‘While EVs are more energy intensive to produce, manufacturers are continually investing in ways to make production more efficient, including expanding their own renewable energy sources – and as national electricity grids decarbonise, so will production and lifecycle emissions for EVs.’
