Are EVs Really Better for the Environment?

what impact do Eves have on the environment well that's a big question to answer and a tough one but we will tackle it in this video when it comes to reducing pollution and saving the planet EVS are Far and Away cleaner than combustion powered cars and trucks though they are far from perfect there are numerous facets to the environmental impact Eves have many are positive though some of course are negative and according to data from the US Department of energy from a life cycle carbon emission standpoint cradle to grave and well to wheels a 2020 model year EV with 300 Mi of real world range is expected to release the equivalent of about 206 G of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide equivalents per mile driven and that is a mouthful in comparison a 2020 model year small SUV with a conventional gasoline engine produces about 420 G of CO2 equivalent per mile more than twice as much as the electric and keep in mind those figures take into account the EV being charged by the US average power grid mix which includes energy from all sources so wind solar hydroelectric and nuclear as well as natural gas coal and others now similar research conducted by the Argon National Lab mirrors the department of Energy's findings when it comes to Lifetime greenhouse gas pollution ice Vehicles result in more than twice as many as EVS now one area where electrics are considerably dirtier than combustion powered vehicles is manufacturing it's estimated that creating an 80 KW hour Tesla Model 3 lithium iion battery pack creates between 2 and 1 12 and 16 metric tons of carbon emissions mining just one ton of hard rock lithium is estimated to release 15,00 th000 metric tons of CO2 you have to extract the material transport it refine the stuff often times in China then the lithium might get shipped across the ocean to a battery Factory before finally being installed in a vehicle there are big carbon emissions at every Link in this chain now the same is true of other materials like manganese nickel or even something as familiar as copper mining these substances is not clean nor is the refining and transporting ditto for Rare Earth elements that are used in some electric motors similarly there's an enormous human cost to all of this mining for instance can rely on child or even slave labor plus ripping scarce elements from the earth also scars and pollutes the land anyway in short it's way dirtier to build an EV than an ice vehicle but electric powered cars and trucks are leaps and bounds cleaner to operate also it's important to note that things are getting cleaner as newer battery chemistries are adopted by more automakers and these mixes replace problematic materials like nickel and especially Cobalt another benefit of EVS is that they are better for air quality since you're not literally setting dead dinosaurs on fire electrics produce no tailpipe emissions of any kind no hydrocarbons nitrogen oxides part articulates and certainly no carbon monoxide now all of that being said yes power plants that burn coal or natural gas will produce emissions but it's far easier to control those at a single Source rather than at millions of individual Vehicles backing all of this up in 2023 the kek school of medicine at the University of Southern California released an interesting study and here's the gist of what they found the team compared data on total zero emissions vehicle registration air pollution levels and Asthma related emergency Rune visits across the state between 2013 to 2019 as Zev adoption increased within a given zip code local air pollution levels and emergency room visits dropped that is very good news and it doesn't take many EVS to make a noticeable difference at the ZIP code level researchers found that for every additional 20 emissions vehicles per 1,000 people asthma related emergency room visits were reduced by 3.2% on the other hand one more potential environmental downside to electrics is tire wear since they're generally heavier than comparable ice vehicles and often have tons of immediate torque EVS can burn through tires faster creating loads of particulate pollution according to a report from Imperial College London globally tires create some 6 million metric tons of were waste and annually everything from visible pieces down to nanop particles as the world becomes more aware of microplastic pollution and the problems it causes vehicle tires will likely get more scrutiny and potentially EVS as well though of course ice vehicles are not immune to this either next up let's cover vehicle maintenance with EVS this is greatly reduced which is a big benefit for the environment there's no crank case oil to change leak or dispose of and you don't have to worry about dirty old filters either EES have no PCV valves fuel injection systems or Emissions Control Hardware I mean the list goes on and on additionally with regenerative braking you greatly decrease wear and tear on the friction brakes extending their lives and of course reducing particulate emissions remember pads and shoes rotors and drums are wear items just like tires and finally recycling is another way EVS impact the environment right now this is something of a mixed bag because there's no efficient large scale way to reclaim the materials found in end of life lithium ion batteries smelting is how this has been done in the past but it is not clean and it destroy some of the precious materials that you're trying to reclaim fortunately though several companies are working on ways to cleanly and efficiently recycle lithium ion batteries and doing so in an economically viable way which is very important as well we're not quite there yet but I suspect we will have a battery recycling breakthrough sooner than later once these companies really start scaling up and there you have it e are not perfect nor are they a Magic Bullet solution to our transportation and environmental woses still in many important ways electrics are undeniably better for the environment than combustion powered cars and trucks from a long-term perspective and you know what maximizing your EV battery life is not only good for you it's good for the environment as well so click here to learn how a few simple tricks and behavior modifications can actually make a big difference

Channel: EV Pulse

Views: 5,032

Keywords: EV, Electric Vehicle, Car Review, Review, Electric, Charging, Battery, EV Pulse, E V Pulse, EVP, electric vehicles, evs, environmental impact, greenhouse gas emissions, vehicle manufacturing, battery recycling, air quality, tire wear, zero emissions, carbon footprint, lithium ion batteries, recycling technology, transportation pollution, evs impact, environmental benefits, green transportation, vehicle emissions, mining, cobalt, lithium, manganese, child labor, human rights, congo

Id: QRR1nScYbXs

Length: 7min 13sec (433 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 07 2024