Could Electric Vehicles be Bad for the Environment? Data Reveals the Truth

Thinking of buying an electric car to help the environment? This video discusses when and where EVs are most beneficial for cutting carbon emissions… and the rare cases where they actually produce more emissions than petrol (gas) cars, using an in-depth analysis of the life cycle emissions of EVs and internal combustion engine cars.

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Credits:
Pexels, Pixabay.
Music:
Thirty First Dream - Otis McDonald - Youtube audio library.
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

References:

00:00 Introduction
00:28 The problem
01:40 Emissions from vehicle production
02:05 Emissions from battery manufacture
03:51 Emission from vehicle use
05:30 The average ICE
06:30 Data collection
07:23 Results
09:26 Final thoughts
11:30 End card

#electricvehicles #sustainable #oureden #education #emissions

[rogerstarkey]

This video needs a SERIOUS update.
Consider the footprint of ICE drivetrain production more closely.
You made the statement at 2:00
"7 tonnes, roughly the same for EVs, if we don't include the battery"
Clearly incorrect?
If you consider the "rolling shell" they're identical (not withstanding the advances made by one manufacturer over the last 2 years which vastly decrease the energy footprint of that shell?)
.
Make it very clear that the two drivetrains must then be considered as a separate entity.
.
The battery materials footprint also needs careful and serious revision.
Current and planned localised production has rendered the 2019 study obsolete.
.
Then there's the trend towards LiFePo4 and similar technology, using cheaper, more easily (locally!) obtainable materials.
.
Cobalt.
I was disappointed to see that you missed the use of Cobalt in removal of sulphur for fossil fuels.
There will of course be a cry of "it's a catalyst! It doesn't use much!"
Not per But we're talking many millions of gallons each Every day, rather than a "single use" in a battery.
.
Should we be naive enough to think that "the big problem" of "30% artisanal mining" wasn't the same for the Oil industry over previous decades, but simply not mentioned before it became a political tool with the dawn of the EV?
(I suggest a look at "The Cobalt Institute" who have a long and seemingly proud association with the oil industry?)
.
Fuel Cycle Emissions.
Again, plenty of emphasis on "dirty grid" to EV.
Not so much emphasis on the fact that the same energy mix is used by refineries (plus I believe a proportion of burning "waste products"?) Leaving the relative "fuel in tank vs battery charge" for a given range with a very similar footprint.
Effectively "nett zero" at a "ready to roll" state?
But when the vehicle moves, Zero extra pollution from the EV.
ALL fuel burned is polluting from the ICE vehicle.
Not even close
.
"End of life" footprint.
Even not considering potential "second life" (it's forgotten or simply not known that the "end of life" figure for an EV pack is pegged (usually) at 75-80% of initial capacity at a given mileage. It's by no means "dead")
.
But let's assume, either the car body outlasted the pack, or the vehicle is being scrapped.
The pack will be within the top 5 most valuable components on the salvaged vehicle.
It certainly won't go to landfill (more if that later)
It certainly will be recycled.
Why?
Because the common claim amongst numerous new and now established companies in the *EV battery recycling industry* is that they can:-
1) Recover 95% of raw materials from any lack.
.
2) Produce base materials which are *of higher quality* than the original product ("double refined")
.
3) Recover this stock at a fraction of the cost of new mining (ref Redwood Materials "17.5% new mining cost")
.
We also have numerous Battery *and* vehicle manufacturers, either already recycling in-house (Tesla), or announcing partnerships with specialists.
.
Another consideration.
A comment by JB Straubel, formally Tesla co founder, now of Redwood materials, indicates that their process allows economical addition of ALL old battery cells for recycling, including those from small devices, tools, etc which undoubtedly go to AND that circuit boards can be included, recovering precious metals and other compounds.
.
I could find more issues, but this is a start.

[vtr-vegasteslarides]

Cobalt is also used to remove Sulfur during Fuel refinery. Loads going to waste there.

[yvs]

but isn't cobalt also used in the production of oil? also, most metals in car batteries can be recycled and therefore the carbon footprint of digging them out is reduced even further.

[forwardfaith]

One factor that wasn't covered is EV battery recycling. As of 2023, some companies like Redwood Materials are reusing over 90% of the battery materials like lithium and cobalt. If that can be scaled up, then were talking about front loading a supply chain that will rely on decreasing new mining.

[WrathChild-NZ]

No Mention of the footprint of drilling for oil? oil refining? transporting the oil?

[SuperMatic]

you forgot to mention what will happened when you put your electric car in the junkyard after 5-10 years.
what will happened with the batteries for enviroment?
think about it.

[zoldfulu]

One important question (maybe its there but I missed it). You factor in the co2 production of energy for EVs, how do you factor in the co2 production of fuel for ICEs? It would be fair to take account for both?

[primed]

Came from reddit. It's a really good video 👌

[spelare]

Why is production and refining of fossil fuel not included in the equation?

[jezlawrence]

Wish you'd gone more into the mining. *Why* does it produce greenhouse gases, and will that be reduced once all the mining equipment & vehicles and transport are electrified?

[billhacker]

well you are definitely a fangirl and how long do the battery last and how do they cost to replace

[pappadappacarhauler]

How do you dispose of old lithium batteries?

[likestomeasurestuff]

Thanks for that video!

Just one thing: 3:20 Am I mistaken or are Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan marked as parts of the Chinese People's Republic on that map? I'm confused ... I do not remember ever hearing, that those two state's teritorries are disputed

[matthiasmaiwald]

Great video! There is another parameter that I don't know how to calculate, but this may not be unimportant. We know that stationary objects (households, industry) can be fed by electricity without batteries (usually), because they don't have to move. The importance, as you say, is overall greenhouse gas emissions, regardless of whether they are from stationary objects or vehicles. If one would exchange all vehicles with EV at once, one would need to produce much more electricity at once. Another YouTuber (Engineering Explained) estimated this at 35% more electricity needed for the USA. What would the energy balance (and greenhouse gas emissions) look like if we tried to make the energy as much as possible renewable, focus it on stationary objects and reserve fossil fuels for moveable objects?

[mathewroberts]

Nice vid, maybe we could discuss the impact of the rising trend of renewables in the energy mix. Also I feel the environmental impact of mining is always excused from standard ICE cars...palladium in the catalutic converter, nickel on the chrome work, exotic metals in high performance engines? Might we also recognise that most of the worlds cobalt is used in the processing of petrol? And this is non recyclable as opposed to Battery uses of cobalt?

[catherineanddanmallen]

Unless I missed it, you did not include the effects of drilling the oil, transporting it to the refineries, refining it, and transporting it to gas and diesel stations.

[legacybuilders]

Great video. Do you have a comparison of EV vs hybrid vehicles?

[alek]

Did you count the process of producing fuel?

[niglub]

What about manufacture of the car engine and exhaust system?

[milesdunstan-daams]

but what about the increased weight from the battery that makes more road maintance nessercary