Electric cars: Fraunhofer study confirms climate advantage

Created: 04/05/2022, 16:09

By: Simon Mones

According to a calculation by the Fraunhofer Institute, electric cars emit fewer greenhouse gases.

In addition, the Stromer are more economical.

Karlsruhe – Electromobility is becoming more and more popular in Germany. According to a study, every tenth household is considering buying an electric vehicle.

Nevertheless, there are many prejudices attached to electric cars that have long belonged to the realm of fables.

It is often claimed that these are not supposed to be that much more climate-friendly than combustion engines.

A prejudice that the researchers of the Bundeswehr Munich (UniBw M) recently refuted in a study.

And the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI in Karlsruhe has also examined combustion engines and electric cars on behalf of the Expert Commission for Research and Innovation (EFI) with regard to the new German climate protection goals, as reported by 24auto.de.

Electric cars: Fraunhofer study confirms climate advantage

According to the calculations, purely electric cars already have the lowest greenhouse gas emissions – even taking into account the current electricity mix.

“With an electric vehicle purchased in 2020, the GHG emissions are halved compared to a petrol vehicle.

With an increasing proportion of renewable energies in the electricity mix, this advantage will even be almost 60 percent in 2030,” the Karlsruhe researchers conclude.

According to the Fraunhofer Institute, electric cars are already better for the climate.

(Iconic image) © Manuel Geisser/Imago

According to the study, the life cycle assessment of electric cars and plug-in hybrids is even better than that of diesel and petrol engines if the goals in the electricity sector are only partially achieved.

For the plug-in hybrids, however, this only applies "if they make a significant part of their journeys electrically (at least 40 percent)."

Electric cars: More economical than other alternative drives

In order to achieve the climate protection goals, however, these would have to be operated with synthetic fuels in the medium and long term.

For this reason, the researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute rate the plug-in hybrids "rather as a bridging technology".

In addition, there is also potential for reducing greenhouse gases with other alternative drive technologies, such as hydrogen fuel cells or biofuels.

But the electric cars not only shine with their ecological balance, the Fraunhofer Institute also sees the electric cars “in the medium and long term as the cheapest sustainable option”.

Compared to other alternative drives, these are also economically advantageous if one assumes that the battery has to be replaced halfway through its service life.

According to the calculations, the synthetic fuels - so-called e-fuels - are not economical either now or in the foreseeable future due to the high fuel costs, and they are also completely absent from the market.

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