Battery electric cars better than all alternative drives on full lifecycle emissions – study
淨
Battery electric cars are more climate-friendly over their full lifecycle than both diesel/petrol cars and all other alternative drives, such as hydrogen fuel cell or natural gas cars, (ifeu) and commissioned by the think tank Agora Verkehrswende.* Including emissions from production and disposal, a compact-class vehicle with a fuel cell and hydrogen produced through electrolysis emits 75 percent more greenhouse gases than a battery electric passenger car over its entire lifecycle after driving 150,000 kilometres. The study uses the current German power mix and assumes a rising renewables share in line with government goals. Operating a conventional diesel car with synthetic fuel causes greenhouse gas emissions three times higher than those of a battery powered car, writes Agora Verkehrswende. Battery powered vehicles have a climate advantage of 16 percent after 150,000 kilometres compared to diesel cars driven on conventional fuel. Agora Verkehrswende cautions that the study is a “snapshot of highly dynamic developments,” and lower emissions from battery production, for example, could quickly change the outcome.
A study by German economics professor Hans Werner Sinn claiming electric cars were worse than diesel was widely criticised for being misleading due to its assumptions, but . Earlier studies have suggested that the total purchase, maintenance and operation costs of a battery electric vehicle will be significantly lower than those of a conventional car that emits the same amount of greenhouse gases by 2030. Others have argued hydrogen fuel cell drives are more climate-friendly than battery electric drives due to emissions from battery production. Germany's influential carmakers have all announced ambitious plans to increase the share of e-cars in their product portfolio over the next years. The German government had aimed to have a million electric vehicles on its roads , but has since said this target will likely only be reached by 2021 or 2022.
*Like 淨 and Agora Energiewende, Agora Verkehrswende is funded by the Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation.