This article provides some data to support the fact that EVs are better for the environment in Nova Scotia.
Yes! The electricity generated to power EVs is generally cleaner than gasoline and it’s getting cleaner over time as we integrate more renewable energy on the grid. Even if an electrical grid was powered entirely by coal, EVs would still only produce 88% of the emissions of gasoline powered vehicles. While it’s also true that producing the battery in an EV can sometimes result in higher emissions during the manufacturing process, that gap is closed within 18 months of driving. With our current electricity mix in Nova Scotia, at the end of its lifecycle, an EV cuts the emissions of gas-powered alternatives in half. (Ev Basics, n.d.)
The CAA Driving Cost Calculator for Sustainable Transportation compares the estimated total annual driving costs for the 2023 Hyundai Kona EV Ultimate 4D Utility EV ($7,803.96/year) and the 2023 Hyundai Kona Preferred 4D Utility AWD ($8,366.97/year). (Based on owning the vehicle for 5 years)
CAA Driving Cost Calculator. (2023, June 16). Canadian Automobile Association. Retrieved December 6, 2023, from https://carcosts.caa.ca/en/compare
The Schumpeter business column, at the Economist, asks how green is your electric vehicle, really? It reports that EVs are in the middle of an obesity epidemic that shows itself in even though some manufacturers claim sustainability as a founding principle, they are building bigger, burlier cars, even when they are electric.
For now, carmakers can argue that however big the electric rigs, they have a positive impact on the planet. Though manufacturing evs—including sourcing the metals and minerals that go into them—generates more greenhouse gases than a conventional car, they quickly compensate for that through the absence of tailpipe emissions. Lucien Mathieu of Transport and Environment, a European ngo, says that even the biggest evs have lower lifetime carbon emissions than the average conventional car. That is true even in places with plenty of coal-fired electricity, such as China.
Ultimately, the industry is almost sure to realise the folly of pursuing size for its own sake. The penny is starting to drop. Ford’s ceo, Jim Farley, recently said carmakers could not make money with the longest-range batteries. His opposite number at General Motors, Mary Barra, has taken the unexpected step of reversing a plan to retire the affordable Chevy Bolt ev. In Europe, carmakers like Volkswagen are building smaller, cheaper evs. Tesla is said to be planning a compact model made in Mexico.
The pressure is partly coming from competition. Felipe Munoz of Jato Dynamics, a car consultancy, says China prizes battery efficiency above bigness and is hoping to muscle in on overseas markets with lighter, cheaper brands, such as byd. Innovation in batteries based on solid-state or sodium-ion chemistry may also make evs more efficient. For the time being, drivers with money to splurge will no doubt relish flaunting their low-carbon credentials from the vantage point of a large suv or monster truck. And so they should—until they realise that they may be making electrification less accessible to the rest of humanity. (How Green Is Your Electric Vehicle, Really?, 2023)
The absence of tailpipe emissions in EV’s results in lower greenhouse gas lifetime output than the average conventional ICE car. As battery technology improves to solid state and sodium-ion designs, the efficiency will improve and the number of charging stations will grow.
References
CAA Driving Cost Calculator. (2023, June 16). Canadian Automobile Association. Retrieved December 6, 2023, from https://carcosts.caa.ca/en/compare
Ev Basics. (n.d.). EV Assist. Retrieved December 6, 2023, from https://evassist.ca/ev-basics/
How green is your electric vehicle, really? (2023, June 16). the Economist. Retrieved December 6, 2023, from https://www.economist.com/business/2023/08/10/how-green-is-your-electric-vehicle-really?
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