All things factored in, are EVs truly ‘greener’ than gas vehicles?  Here’s the definitive way to measure.

Life Cycle Assessment, the one sure measure of sustainability and environmental impact

It’s no secret that electric vehicles have huge batteries, which have a significant manufacturing and disposal footprint.  That leads some people to suggest that EVs are as bad for the environment as conventional gas vehicles.  But that’s a false argument, and here’s why.

The only truly fair way to measure the sustainability of any product – whether a bag of chips, an article of clothing, biofuels or a vehicle – is to do a full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).  That means measuring the impact of everything from manufacturing to use to eventual end-of-life disposal or recycling.

It’s true that it takes more energy and resources to manufacture an EV than a conventional one, mainly because of that big battery.  And it takes more to dispose of (IE recycle) an EV at the end of its life, again mainly because of that big battery.

However, the largest environmental impact of any vehicle doesn’t come from its manufacture or disposal; it comes from that phase in between: its use, AKA driving.  And when it comes to driving, the far-superior efficiency of EVs more than offsets their extra manufacturing and disposal impacts.  (And as mentioned last time, the more renewable the energy used to charge an EV, the greater those benefits.)

Need more convincing?

• Here’s a 2021 study showing that EVs have lower overall greenhouse gas emissions than gas vehicles – not only in the US and Europe, but also in China and India, where much power comes from coal; here’s a magazine article about the same study.

• Here’s a 2022 analysis from the Fuels Institute (yes, lots of fossil fuels representation there) concluding the same thing: EVs are better
• Here’s a 2018 analysis done for the City of Vancouver – a bit dated, but with findings that are consistent with the above research, and probably amplified by today’s improved EV technology.

It’s true that conducting a proper LCA can get pretty complicated, technical and expensive.  And admittedly, there’s room for interpretation, depending on methodology.  (For example, how do you factor in the non-GHG impacts of mines that supply the ingredients of any vehicle, whether electric or gas?)

But if you’re intent upon reducing greenhouse gas emissions and doing your part to help in the fight against climate change, know this: under scrutiny of a full Life Cycle Assessment, EVs are significantly better than gas vehicles.