Within the past decade, hybrid and electric vehicles have surged in popularity amongst the masses within the global transportation landscape. Driven by restrictive emissions regulations, government incentives, and growing public concern over climate change, they are being adopted into society at a breakneck pace.

The debate on whether electric cars are more environmentally friendly than hybrid cars has long been resolved by researchers, being an unquestionable yes. Studies show massive drops in air pollution in cities with high EV adoption rates. Despite this, there is one company that still refuses to fully dive into the EV world.

Akio Toyoda claims that nine million electric cars would have the same pollution impact as 27 million hybrids in an interview once. According to him, just one fully electric vehicle pollutes just as much as three hybrids. The chairman also stated that Toyota aims to lower emissions using what they refer to as a “multi-pathway” approach, a method that includes a variety of vehicle powertrains including hybrids and plug-in hybrids, hydrogen-powered fuel cells more efficient petrol engines and of course, EVs.

This is backed by them having done their research, comparing their 27 million hybrid vehicle’s pollution impact to 9 million BEVs or battery EVs on the road. He claimed that if Toyota were to have made 9 million BEVs in Japan, it would have actually increased the carbon emissions, not reduce them due to the country’s reliance on thermal power plants for electricity.

Given how fossil fuels are typically used to generate electricity in Japan, Toyoda explicitly referred to the emissions produced during production and charging within the country. Nonetheless, the proportion of renewable energy resources in the nation’s energy mix has also been increasing recently. This statement was seized upon heavily by numerous media sites, who used them as a “damning admission” to disparage EVs in general.

Emissions produced during the extraction, refinement, and processing of the basic materials needed in high-voltage batteries found in EVs are the biggest argument against them. Lithium, cobalt, and nickel are materials that are mined using risky, expensive water-intensive procedures. This makes an electric vehicle to be labelled “dirtier” than a typical gasoline or hybrid vehicle when it leaves their respective factories, having a larger carbon debt. Depending on the vehicle category, producing gasoline and hybrid automobiles emit between 6 and 9 metric tons of carbon dioxide, while EVs emit around 11 to 14 tons before they can be delivered to customers.

Despite this glaring emissions problem, once EVs hit the road, their total emissions start to drop quickly as they begin paying off that carbon debt. Conversely, gasoline and hybrid cars go in the other way, increasing their carbon emissions with time. EVs have the capability to pay off the loan completely after a specific amount of distance, while conventional internal combustion engine based and hybrid vehicles will not.

According to a 2023 study by Argonne National Laboratory, the average electric car will take around 20000 miles to accommodate for the emissions created during the manufacturing process.

Overall, there are a lot of factors beyond tailpipe emissions that can impact global warming potential and respiratory effects, namely:

  • How various electrical grids get their power, and how that could change as renewable energy is adopted more widely.
  • The average lifetime driving distance of the different types of vehicles.
  • A lifecycle analysis that considers manufacturing, maintenance, and disposal of vehicles.
  • The environmental footprint that comes with extracting and processing materials for batteries, as well as manufacturing them.
  • The gasoline supply chain including crude oil extraction, refinement, storage, and transportation.

Solid straight lines represent the default value for each vehicle: ICEVs (pink line), HEVs (blue line), PHEVs (yellow line), and BEVs (green line). Shaded areas denote uncertainties associated with the four parameters: pink for the ICEV fuel economy, blue for the HEV fuel economy, yellow for the PHEV electric driving share, and green for the BEV electricity consumption (https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01608-z).

According to a research group led by Mik Carbajales-Dale, an associate professor of environmental engineering and Earth sciences at Clemson, electric vehicles may inadvertently exacerbate environmental injustice in some cases. Urban areas benefit more from EV’s zero tailpipe emissions, while rural or poorer communities experience a bigger environmental burden because they are often closer to power plants where electricity is produced.

Researchers tell customers that they ought to consider factors such as the expected lifetime driving distance of vehicles, daily commuting distance and individual driving and charging patterns, along with regional differences in charging station availability and how local power grids get their electricity.

SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy)

References

https://toyotatimes.jp/en/spotlights/1081_4.html

Chen, H., Can Sener, S.E., Van Emburg, C. et al. Electric light-duty vehicles have decarbonization potential but may not reduce other environmental problems. Commun Earth Environ 5, 476 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01608-z

Pembimbing: Alfan Sarifudin, S.Pd., M.T.