Are electric vehicles really GREEN?

We are in the stage of transition towards electric vehicles from traditional ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) cars. Each and every automobile brand in the world are now launching EVs and are planning to make their line up fully electric by 2030 or above. New start-up companies other than legendary car makers are also going to pump out electric cars.

All these legendary brands and start-ups are saying only one thing, "EVs are green!" 

Do they really pollute less than ICE vehicles? Let's see!

Overview

1. In this blog, I will try my best to make you understand the calculation done and make a clear statement.
2. All the average data are obtained from Google search.
3. Lifetime of a car is divided into the manufacturing phase and running phase. 
4. Source of the fuel they use is also important. So I have addressed that also.

Manufacturing phase

Ice cars

On an average, the amount of CO2 released during its manufacturing phase is approximately 5.5 tonnes. This average is for a medium sized car. The amount varies according to the size , type of car and brands as some brands do the process more efficiently.

Electric cars

In case of electric vehicles, according to a research done by the Swedish Environmental Institute, around 17.5 tonnes of CO2 is emitted in manufacturing the vehicle. The number may increase according to the size of the battery pack. 

This large number is because of the battery pack that powers the vehicle. It contains lithium (accounting for nearly 6% of the total minerals in the battery) . Mining of lithium emits more CO2 . Another element, cobalt, during its mining releases a high amount of CO2. Some cobalt mines employ children too. 

Running phase

Ice cars

An average sized family runs about 3,00,000 kms in its lifetime. The average mileage given by the car will be around 25kmpl (This number varies according to the vehicle. This is an average figure). 

Then the amount of petrol consumed by the car in its lifetime will be around 12,000 litres. Yes the mileage decreases with ageing of the car. But for easy calculation let's keep it as 25kmpl.

Burning of 1 litre of petrol produces 2.3kg of CO2. Then by burning 12,000 litres of petrol will emit about 27.6 tonnes.

Electric cars

In case of electric cars, they last for more than 3,00,000 kms. Recently, a Tesla model S has covered a whopping distance of 6,75,000 kms but they say it will last for more than a million kms.

Consumer Reports estimates the average EV battery pack’s lifespan to be at around 3,22,000 kms. But during it's running phase, the car won't emit any amount of CO2.

It consumes electricity, on an average of 15 kWh for every 100kms(including efficiency degradation). It means the car consumes 48,300 kWh of electricity in its lifetime.

Fuel source

Ice cars

This will be somewhat more tough to understand. Let me give clear cut statements.

• Petrol comes from crude oil.
• In a barrel of crude oil (159 litres), 73 litres of petrol is produced. This gives an average of 2.17 litres of crude oil is required to produce 1 litre of petrol.
• A barrel of crude oil stores 6120Mj of energy. Then 2.17 litres of crude stores approximately 84 Mj of energy.
• Mining 1Mj of crude produces 10.3 g of CO2.
• Hence to obtain 1 litre of petrol, approximately 865g(84×10.3) of CO2 is emitted.

From the above calculation, the mining process for producing 1litre of petrol emits 0.86kg of CO2. Then for 12,000 litres of petrol, 10.3 tonnes of CO2 is emitted.

Electric cars 

Likewise, electricity is produced by burning coal, natural gas and nuclear plants.

CO2 emitted in producing a kWh of electricity is 0.99g , 0.46g and 0.64g from coal, natural gas and oil respectively.

For calculation here, let's take coal as a resource. This is because, in India, the major resource for electricity production is coal. Coal accounts for more than 50% of total energy production.

In the previous phase, we have calculated that electric cars consume 48,300 kWh of electricity (average) in its lifetime. So it emits about 47.8 tonnes of CO2, for producing the electricity required. 

Conclusion

Results are,

CRITERIA	ICE cars(C02 emissions in tonnes)	Electric cars (CO2 emissions in tonnes)
Manufacturing phase	5.5	17.5
Running phase	27.6	0
Fuel source	10.3	47.8
Total	43.4 tonnes	65.3 tonnes

It's clear from the above table that electric vehicles are not green in India.

The reasons why Electric cars pollute more are

1. Lithium and Cobalt production emits more CO2.
2. Electricity production in India involves coal as a primary resource, which emits more CO2.

Solutions

• Lithium and Cobalt mining should be more efficient. Most of the companies that mine Lithium and Cobalt don't care about the environment. They draw 65% of surrounding water and emit more CO2.
• Since it's the beginning of transition, likewise petrol mining, these mining will become efficient.
• Electricity production should be from renewable resources. That's why Tesla built a solar powered battery grid system for their supercharger network. They also founded solar city that provides solar roof for more efficient way of producing electricity
• This emission number varies in different countries. Some countries use renewable resources more like hydro power stations. Where in India, coal is the major resource.
• If India shifts from coal to renewable resources, then electric cars would be greener than petrol/diesel cars.

In the pic above, the areas in red emit more CO2 for electricity production. (Sorry for the clarity degradation. Blogger will compress the image before uploading. Hope the color difference is visible)

The countries like India, China, Australia and Saudi Arabia emit more CO2. This is because they depend more on fossil fuels for electricity production. In these countries, electric cars do make a difference by increasing the CO2 emissions.

A glance at India's electricity production

The pie chart above shows that thermal energy alone accounts for 75% of total source. The Government of India is taking serious steps to depend on renewable resources. Recently TATA power won the contract worth 1200 crore rupees to provide 320MW electricity from Solar. 

This pic shows the YoY increase in Solar electricity production.

The final verdict on the above discussion is

  Electric cars makes sense only when renewable sources are used for electricity production.

Hope you got that. Thank you!