Electric Cars Toxic?

A group of scientists in Norway recently pulled together an academic paper suggesting that electric cars are in fact much worse for the environment than we thought. Coinciding nicely with the decision by Toyota to remove their electric car from production last week for reasons of practicality, this study questions whether electric vehicles are in fact at all environmentally friendly. We already know that they save on costs, such as fuel, road tax, motor insurance quotes and congestion charges. However, are electric vehicles really worth while?

The inconvenient truth

The paper that they have compiled contests what we have always thought as a ‘clean’ method of personal transport. One of the authors, Guillaume Majeau-Bettez outlines a problem which he calls ‘problem shifting’. In other words, are we simply shifting the fossil fuel problem away? Are we conveniently not taking into account other factors which are more polluting in the manufacture process of such electric vehicles?

Toxic

The paper looks at how toxic the manufacturing process for producing electric cars is, compared to normal cars as well as taking into account where the electricity produced for such electric cars comes from. They claim that the potential for global warming during electric car production is twice that of conventional cars. The paper also states that it is counter productive to use electric cars in regions where electricity is produced by fossil fuel power stations. In fact it has been suggested that were al cars electric, the overall demand for electricity would increase from 15 to 30%

To conclude

The academics in Norway have emphasized the importance of an overall “sharpened policy focus with regards to life cycle management” thus countering “potential setbacks in terms of water pollution and toxicity.” All these issues must be tackled before we can expect to see any real environmental benefits. In an age where we are increasingly concerned about the environment and our Planet’s health, it is important not to rest all of our hopes on one concept, just for the sake of convenience. This study has shed a little light on the wider ranging issues around the holy grail of carbon-free transport.

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