Autocar UK – 24 April 2019

20 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 24 APRIL 2 019

T

he legislative push

towards battery-powered

electric vehicles has taken

hold across most of the

world. Indeed, the demands

of the European Union’s

new car fleet CO 2 emissions

requirements for 2025 and

2030 leave manufacturers no

option but to build significant

numbers of EVs in the future.

There are also tough EV

targets in place in China,

forcing car firms to react.

Volkswagen, scarred by the

Dieselgate scandal, is going

even further by taking a huge

bet on mass-manufacturing

EVs from next year.

There’s no doubt that

travelling in EVs has a smaller

CO 2 footprint than even the

best internal combustion

engine cars because the

efficiency of a battery-electric

drivetrain is around three times

that of a normal petrol car and

more than twice that of the

latest Toyota Prius hybrid.

But, ultimately, much

depends on the nature of

the electricity generation

that is feeding the battery

pack in question. Plugging in

an electric car makes most

environmental sense in

Norway, Sweden and France,

thanks to hydropower and

nuclear power respectively.

Another crucial aspect

of the lifetime CO 2 footprint

of EVs is the energy used to

manufacture the battery

packs. More than one study

has claimed that battery pack

production consumes so much

energy that it takes significant

mileage before the EV has

‘worked off’ the CO 2 released

during its manufacturing.

The latest study on the ‘CO 2

lag’ of electric cars comes

fr o m th e U n i ve r s i t y of L i è g e

in Belgium. Calculations by

Professor Damien Ernst,

originally commissioned by a

TV show and reported by local

newspaper HLN, are by far the

m o st n e g a ti ve t a ke o n E Vs ye t.

Using the average CO 2

output of the European

electricity network, Ernst

concluded that an electric car

using a 60kWh battery made

i n Eu r o p e wo u l d h ave to trave l

some 700,000 kilometres

(435,000 miles) before it is

“greener than an average

petrol car”. However, Ernst

a l s o s ay s th a t a fu l l y r e n ewa b l e

European grid would reduce

the EV’s CO 2 lag to just

30,000km (18,640 miles).

The story caused an

expected stir in Belgium with

arguments about Ernst’s

calculations, which were

variously adjusted to around

350,000km or, in the case

of claims from professors

at the Delft University of

Technology, the calculation

is ‘just’ 80,000km driving

before the vehicle breaks even

on its larger manufacturing

energy footprint.

It’s not the first time that

EV battery manufacturing

How green is your EV?

CO

2

-intensive battery production means emissions-free travel remains a mirage

Audi’s Belgian plant

generates electricity

through solar power