As electric cars both become more popular and more necessary, concerns have mounted that when the full lifecycle of the vehicle is taken into account, they’re not actually any greener than existing petrol-powered vehicles.  It’s an accusation that new research from the University of Cambridge suggests is misplaced.

The concerns revolved around both the environmental cost of generating the electricity and of building the vehicle (and especially the battery).  This concern is misplaced, however, with the study finding that under normal conditions, an  electric car would be greener than a conventional petrol car in 95% of the world, with the only exceptions being countries that still generate most of their electricity from dirty sources, such as coal.

The research shows that the lifetime emissions of the average electric car are some 70% lower than petrol cars in the countries where most electricity is generated by renewable sources, but even in countries such as the UK, where electricity generation is more mixed, the benefits amount to around 30%.

The authors believe that every other car on the roads will be electric by 2050, which would reduce global CO2 emissions by around 1.5 gigatons every year, which is roughly the same amount as produced by Russia today.

“We started this work a few years ago, and policy-makers in the UK and abroad have shown a lot of interest in the results,” the researchers say. “The answer is clear: to reduce carbon emissions, we should choose electric cars over fossil fuel alternatives.”

Correcting misinformation

The researchers explain that the current debate is riddled with misinformation, which is distorting policy making.  They hope their work will help to provide some factual basis for discussions going forward.

In 53 of the 59 regions the team analyzed around the world, the current generation of electric cars were greener than their fossil fuel alternatives.  What’s more, these regions represent around 95% of all transport demand today, thus highlighting the huge potential savings globally.

“Understanding the effect of low-carbon innovations on relevant sectors of the economy, such as heating and transport, is crucial for the development of effective policy,” the researchers explain. “We hope our work can inform the policy process here in the UK and abroad, particularly around discussions of the new carbon targets under the Paris Agreement framework.”