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Charging instead of refueling: electric cars are seen as a climate hope - apparently rightly so
Photo: Rachel Annie Bell / Cavan Images RF / Getty Images
Drivers around the world are increasingly opting for battery-powered electric vehicles (BEV).
In Germany, their share of new registrations has recently risen to more than ten percent.
The boom is promoted by government subsidies and emission regulations - e-cars are supposed to help the climate, after all, they do not emit any exhaust gases.
However, individual experts and politicians repeatedly doubt this calculation: Aren't the vehicles actually mostly charged with dirty coal electricity?
The authors of a study by the non-governmental organization ICCT now clearly contradict: In their climate calculation, electric cars not only do significantly better than cars with internal combustion engines.
The balance sheet of the vehicles has apparently also clearly improved once again recently.
According to this, an electric car from the compact class in Europe releases 66 to 69 percent fewer greenhouse gases than a vehicle with gasoline drive.
The energy demand over the entire service life of the car, including manufacture, was considered.
The fact that some batteries are manufactured on other continents, such as China, is included in the calculation.
This is based on the expected electricity mix for the years 2021 to 2038, in which an e-car registered today would be on the road.
The EU's climate plans envisage that renewable energies will be significantly expanded and that the production of electricity will generate far less CO₂ than today.
The authors also expect that e-cars that will be registered in the coming years will have an even better carbon footprint.
"Due to the steadily improving electricity mix, this emission advantage of BEVs for new vehicles will increase to around 74 to 77 percent in 2030."
The carbon footprint of battery production has been greatly improved
More green electricity on the grid makes driving more environmentally friendly as well as energy-intensive battery production: According to the data, a good two-thirds fewer greenhouse gases are now produced in battery production than was assumed a few years ago. This is also because less energy is now required in the manufacturing process. The ICCT based the investigation on data from the Argonne National Laboratory, a research institute of the US Department of Energy.
The climate benefit of e-cars is actually increasing, says Hinrich Helms from the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg (ifeu).
“The carbon footprint of battery electric cars is indeed getting better every year.
This not only makes the electricity mix for charging cleaner, but the battery cells are also produced with cleaner electricity and become more efficient.
A lot is happening at the moment. "
Ifeu recently determined a climate benefit of a good 30 percent for e-cars compared to gasoline-powered vehicles for the Federal Environment Ministry.
In some cases, the institute made different basic assumptions than the ICCT, for example with regard to the electricity mix.
Optimistic parameters
In general, the result of such comparisons between electric and combustion cars depends heavily on the parameters chosen.
How far are the cars driven over their lifespan?
The ICCT estimates 243,000 kilometers for lower middle class cars.
How long does the battery last?
The organization assumes that the battery will hold out until the car is scrapped.
Such optimistic but not unrealistic assumptions make e-cars appear more advantageous in the ecological balance than if, for example, a battery change is assumed.
Even very pessimistic assumptions would probably no longer turn the tide in favor of combustion engines today.
E-car critics repeatedly come across it when the electricity mix of a region or a country is used as the basis for the car's CO2 balance.
In fact, so their argument, gas or coal-fired power plants almost always covered the additional electricity demand caused by electric cars.
They could be started up at short notice - while wind or solar power plants usually do as much as the weather allows.
Hydrogen cars have a little-known climate problem
Helms contradicts.
"Anyone who suspects that a coal-fired power station will always cover the additional electricity demand of electric cars is making it too easy for themselves." For example, the EU has stipulated that renewable energies are expanded to a greater extent when the demand for electricity increases.
Aside from battery-powered cars, hydrogen vehicles also show the way to a climate-friendly future of transport, the ICCT authors find. However, it is very important that the fuel is produced entirely with electricity from renewable sources - especially since its production consumes a lot of energy.
In addition, the investigation points to a little-known detail in the balance sheet of cars with fuel cells. Until now, the production of battery cars was considered to be significantly more harmful to the climate. The current study suggests, however, that the production of hydrogen vehicles releases about as much CO₂ as the production of electric cars with batteries. The crux of the matter is the hydrogen tank made of carbon fibers: producing it and the fuel cell produces roughly as much greenhouse gases as producing a medium-sized electric car battery.