Despite The Growth Of EVs, They’re

Not A Shortcut To Clean Transportation

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

BRANDVOICE| Paid Program

By Bas Bonnier
We may need to end our love affair with SUVs to make transport cleaner.
 SHUTTERSTOCK

When did you last use your car? Have you also driven significantly less over
the past few months?

While lockdowns have been in place around the world due to the coronavirus
pandemic, many people only ventured out on four wheels for tasks like the
weekly shop. At the end of March 2020, road transport was down by 50
percent, according to the International Energy Agency.

New vehicle sales have naturally suffered from this. What is intriguing is that
this has mainly affected conventional cars with internal combustion engines
(ICE). According to BloombergNEF, demand for electric vehicles (EVs) stayed
up fairly consistently around the world in the first quarter of 2020.

Germany topped the bill with a 148 percent increase. The only exceptions were
China and Japan, where demand fell across the board. 

Has the widely publicized plunge in emissions during the lockdown and the

opportunity to keep CO2 levels low after the pandemic inspired people to buy
an EV sooner rather than later to “do their bit”?

While EVs are often portrayed as a key element of any

zero-carbon future, electrification is unlikely to solve
all our problems

After a small overall slump in 2020, BloombergNEF’s Electric Vehicle Outlook

2020 expects EVs to pick up their growth path again, with battery and hybrid
electric vehicles reaching 58 percent of overall sales by 2040.
Global passenger vehicles by drivetrain.
 BLOOMBERGNEF, ELECTRIC VEHICLE OUTLOOK 2020

Price parity between EVs and ICEs is expected by the middle of this decade.
This will be due to the falling cost of batteries and carmakers changing their
processes and operating models to manufacture EVs more sustainably and
profitably due to scale benefits. Increases in EVs’ driving range will further
boost customer acceptance, as will the expansion of public fueling networks.  

But while EVs are often portrayed as a key element of any zero-carbon future,
electrification is unlikely to solve all our problems. EVs may be transforming
vehicle manufacturing and reducing CO2 emissions from fossil fuels, but they
still have an environmental footprint. They are just shifting the energy
creation from car to plant.

Technology will only go so far

Let’s be clear: there are no zero-carbon vehicles, only lower-carbon ones. Even
EVs using solar panels are not 100 percent clean, they are just cleaner.

This is not least because of the CO2 generated in their production, collateral

emissions from their ongoing use and, ultimately, what happens to cars at the
end of their lives.

It is critical for manufacturers to focus on materials that are biologically

degradable or recyclable, and on sustainable production methods. 

For example, platform approaches – using the same chassis across different
models – can help minimize waste material. New techniques to optimize
processes such as gear-grinding will ensure more efficient use and less wear of
production tools.  

But alongside reducing emissions in the production process, carmakers will

also need to look at cutting the energy consumption of cars to clear the path to
cleaner transport.

On the one hand, this can be achieved by lowering some of the ancillary
energy usage – for example by optimizing functions such as heating and
cooling. For instance, heat pumps absorb heat from the air outside the vehicle
to warm up the cabin – drawing significantly less battery power than electric
heaters.

But even that is only a small part of the equation. Just looking for technical
solutions is not enough.
Moving to smaller cars will affect energy consumption.
 SHUTTERSTOCK

Behavioral change is possible

Another major consideration for the industry is how to change our behavior as
car buyers so more of us opt for smaller vehicles.

In the U.S., SUVs made up close to half of all sales in 2019. In Europe, they

grew to 37 percent in the same period.
Now may be the time for effecting lasting behavioral
change by incentivizing car owners to choose light,
low-speed models which use less energy.

The energy it takes to move a larger vehicle – regardless of whether it’s petrol,
diesel or electricity – is multiples of the energy a small one needs. Therefore, a
small car will always be less polluting than a heavy-weighted SUV, electric or
otherwise.

By reducing mass, speed, and acceleration, a car’s energy use can be reined in
significantly.

Alternative modes of transport must be incentivized.

 SHUTTERSTOCK

The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted what a dramatic positive impact

behavioral change can have on the environment: emissions dropped by 5
percent in the first quarter of 2020 because of lockdowns around the globe.

For many, politicians and industry included, the recovery from the crisis is
seen as a unique opportunity to ‘build back better.’ This includes reinforcing
the fight against climate change to keep emissions from returning to their old
levels.

Using this momentum, now may be the time for effecting lasting behavioral
change by incentivizing car owners to choose light, low-speed models which
use less energy – for the benefit of our planet. 

Maybe some of our daily errands could also be run on foot, by bike, or using
public transport, rather than defaulting to the car.

While raising awareness and peer pressure will be important, bringing about
such behavioral change rapidly will require policy support for cleaner
transport choices.

Such support has already helped reduce emissions from transportation

dramatically.

The move to lower-emission cars and EVs has benefitted from tax incentives –
and disincentives – along with rebates; the same measures could be adopted
to nurture more environmentally conscious transport choices. Germany has
been an early mover and has recently hiked taxes for high-emitting vehicles.