5 Ways Electric Cars Are Better for the Environment

Electric vehicles (EVs) have many environmental advantages over internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, including less air pollution, fewer ecological risks, safer manufacturing processes, and reduced waste. However, fully realizing the advantages of electrification will take time and investment. As the market shifts toward EVs, here are five ways electric cars are better for the environment.

Slowing Climate Change

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution nearly 150 years ago, greenhouse gas emissions have increased the amount of carbon in the earth's atmosphere. In the last few decades, scientists have acknowledged that reducing these emissions may slow or even halt climate change. Despite the immediate benefits of reducing carbon emissions, it's not an overnight fix.

One central area of focus in the United States and the world is the transportation sector. In America, motorized vehicles are the largest producer of greenhouse gases, both from a manufacturing standpoint and from an operational one. The emergence of EVs has offered a promising step toward sustainable mobility by lowering harmful tailpipe emissions.

While one can immediately appreciate an EV’s lower tailpipe emissions, the positive influence of EVs on the environment will take time — and patience. Currently, EVs account for less than one percent of vehicles on American roads.

The EV market has had a rollercoaster couple of years and automakers have responded to a reduced demand by revising initial production goals. For 2024, JD Power adjusted its projections from EVs having a 12% market share of new vehicles sold down to a 9% market share. Unfortunately, the recent slowing in EV adoption means a slowing in the positive impacts EVs can have on the environment. On the positive side, JD Power predicts market share will quadruple by decade’s end and hit 58% by 2035, proving that EV adoption is not linear. 

Battery manufacturing gives EVs an initially harsher impact on the environment than ICE vehicles. However, this setback only occurs at the outset and is countered by gas-powered vehicles’ repeated dependence on fossil fuels. When viewed from a “payback standpoint,” EVs become a cleaner option than their gas-powered counterparts in 2.2 years or about 25,000 miles of driving.

However, by 2030, the payback time will be reduced to only one year as the US power sector adds more clean energy generation — similar to the UK. In other words, the cleaner the power grid, the faster an EV will operate more cleanly than an ICE vehicle. For instance, in countries like Norway which are largely hydropower-centric, EVs can reduce their carbon footprint much quicker.

Thus, EVs are already very efficient, but they are far better for the environment when powered by a clean energy grid. Beyond widespread EV adoption, two factors will reduce greenhouse gas emissions: 1) implementing a more sustainable approach to developing and manufacturing EV batteries and 2) moving away from coal. 

Reducing Local Air Pollution

Manufacturing processes aside, EVs reduce air pollution. Although they may not have had a significant impact because their numbers are still low, driving a vehicle with zero tailpipe emissions helps improve local air quality.

Aside from eliminating tailpipe particulates, EVs offer another advantage over traditional vehicles: reduced brake dust. This assertion may seem counterintuitive since electric cars are generally heavier than ICE vehicles and create extra friction with the road. However, the regenerative braking systems of EVs negate the need for standard braking to be applied as often. The result is a reduction of particulate matter from the brakes.

Taking things even further, many EVs now offer one-pedal driving, which leverages the regenerative braking system to bring a vehicle to a complete stop without using the brake pedal. As the driver anticipates a stop ahead, they ease their foot off the accelerator pedal. The vehicle will begin to decelerate at a force of approximately 20 percent of the total braking force, gradually slowing the car compared to the typical application of hydraulic brakes. Once the vehicle stops entirely, the hydraulic brakes keep the car at a complete stop until the driver presses the accelerator pedal to move forward again.

Together, regenerative braking and one-pedal operation minimize and even eliminate brake dust. Combined with zero tailpipe emissions, EV driving is cleaner for the local environment than ICE vehicles.

Less Harmful Fluids

Many vehicle lubricants and fluids that are an environmental concern in an ICE vehicle are not used in EVs. For instance, EVs do not use fossil-based products like motor oil.

Harmful Fluids in ICE vehicles:

Internal combustion engines use motor oil which cannot dissolve in water and contains toxic chemicals. Improper disposal of oil can harm people and wildlife. Oil can also foul wastewater treatment plants and septic systems if poured down a drain. 

Furthermore, oil spilled on land gets washed from the street into storm drains, leading to lakes, rivers, and streams. Because motor oil is heavy and sticky and contains an extensive concentration of toxic compounds, it can build up and persist in the environment for years.

Transmission fluid is another agent that is difficult to clean up and often stays on the ground for a long time. As the fluid breaks down in the sun, it releases hydrocarbons into the air. These chemical compounds can affect breathing in humans and contribute to air pollution that affects everyone.

Another harmful fluid used in ICE vehicles is antifreeze, which contains ethylene glycol. This chemical can cause damage to the nervous system of humans and animals with moderate to high exposures. 

Fewer Environmental Risks

Our dependence on fossil fuels exerts a toll on health and safety. Each year, workers on oil rigs and in refineries are hurt or killed. From 2014 to 2019, the CDC’s Fatalities in Oil and Gas Extraction (FOG) database measured 470 fatalities. By limiting the need for fossil fuels, EVs significantly reduce the associated risks and potential for injury that come with fossil fuel extraction.

Aside from the human price of oil-related accidents, there has also been an enormous environmental cost from broken pipelines to refinery fires. Oil spills in the modern era have released millions of barrels of oil into our oceans causing economic and environmental damage. This includes the BP disaster, which spewed four million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and caused approximately $8.8 billion in environmental damages.

Natural gas—touted as a cleaner and safer alternative to coal and oil—has its perils too. Natural gas pipeline accidents have resulted in numerous deaths and injuries.

The auto industry can avert many of these dangers and disasters by ramping down dependency on fossil fuels. As a result, the proliferation of EVs could significantly impact this area in the years to come.

Less Waste Through Recycling

Companies are exploring opportunities to repurpose and recycle EV batteries to counter the initial environmental impact of material sourcing and battery manufacturing. Reusing batteries not only protects the environment, but it cuts costs too. 

Currently, manufacturers use lithium-ion batteries to power most EVs and guarantee their batteries for eight to 10 years, but they recycle few batteries because recycling processes are complex and costly. Better recycling methods could solve problems related to the limited availability and the rising costs of materials (lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and manganese) used to make lithium-ion batteries.

Most recycling methods under development involve breaking the batteries down into smaller pieces. Then, recyclers separate the metallic elements and strive to reuse as much material as possible. 

Researchers are testing the most effective EV battery recycling methods. One approach is to leverage ultrasonic waves to extract materials from the battery. Another strategy is hydrometallurgy which uses liquids and chemicals to remove lithium and other elements from used batteries for use in new ones.

Battery recycling and repurposing isn’t restricted to automotive use. Former EV batteries can be repurposed to create energy storage systems to power facilities during outages. These are other innovative solutions to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. 

Ultimately, recycling and repurposing batteries will help offset the carbon footprint of battery production, making EVs a cleaner and more sustainable proposition overall.

Summary

Electric vehicles support the world's transition away from fossil fuels and toward cleaner renewable energy sources. There is little doubt about that. But how long that will take and the actual impact on the environment remains to be seen. Only time will tell.

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