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José Gabriel Mejías & José Julián Mejías

Prof. Emily Hernandez Giovannetti

INCO 4025

October 25, 2022

Environmental Impact of Electric Vehicles

Electric cars have existed for a long time, but now they are growing in popularity.

Peoples’ beliefs on electric cars are that is safer and harmless to the environment. However,

people need to understand the cost to the environment that manufacturing and all the labor and

resources an electric car entails. We all know that gas cars are harmful to the environment, the

burning of gasoline and diesel fuel creates harmful byproducts like nitrogen dioxide, carbon

monoxide, etc. Unlike Gas cars, electric cars are perceived as an alternate that is somewhat

harmless to the environment, but how does electric cars affect the environment compared to gas

cars? We will discuss how electric cars and gas cars are manufactured, what renewable resources

they need, and what it costs to be made. We will also discuss how electric vehicles are powered

and if they are safer for the environment.

Both types of vehicles need various materials to be able to produce them, but electric

vehicles have an important part that requires substantially more. Since EVs are powered by

electricity, they need a powerful battery in order to store this energy. The grand majority of EVs

are made using a lithium-ion battery. Lithium-ion batteries require a lot of rare materials such as

cobalt, lithium, nickel, copper, graphite, manganese, aluminum, and other minerals. The

extraction of these materials has led to many environmental and human safety problems. Cobalt
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has contributed to many hazards because of its toxicity. For example, countries like the

Democratic Republic of Congo have rich cobalt deposits which are picked up by miners with

little to no protective gear. Since cobalt is a toxic metal, this exposed the miners to a dangerous

hazard. Additionally, the process of extracting the metals from their ores, which is called

smelting, can release sulfur oxide and other harmful air pollution. With every year that passes,

these rare materials will grow scarcer. Additionally, recycling these batteries has proven

challenging. Currently it is very difficult to extract the metals from old EV batteries and reuse

them to construct new ones. In 2019 Chemical and Engineering News reported that the number

of lithium-ion batteries currently being recycled was under 5%. This proves to be a problematic

issue in the future.

The manufacturing process of an EV has a substantial contribution in emitting

greenhouse gases. This process includes the mining of raw materials, refining these materials, the

assembly, and production. Of course, this is also true for petrol or diesel vehicles. Petrol and

diesel vehicles release about 7 to 10 tons of CO2 during the manufacturing process. EVs release

roughly the same without taking into consideration the battery. To make the battery, about 8 to 9

tons of CO2 will be emitted. Because of this, Electric vehicles produce more greenhouse gases

when manufactured. This makes the battery the most environmentally harmful part of an EV in

the manufacturing process.

EVs generate energy via electrochemical reactions in their lithium-ion batteries. The

battery only requires electricity to charge and because of this, EVs are deemed environmentally

friendly. This all depends on how the electricity used to charge the battery is made. If the power

used to charge the battery comes from a coal-fired power station, which produces about 650g of

CO2 per kWh, then the environmental impact will be almost the same as using gasoline. On the
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other hand, if the power is produced by a renewable energy source like solar panels or wind

turbines, then the impact will be considerably lower to the environment. Since the world mainly

relies on coal and oil plants to produce electricity, most EVs will not have a significant

difference of carbon emissions in comparison to gasoline vehicles. Even with all the data

mentioned above, EVs are still greener if compared to their emissions over their lifetime. This is

because gasoline vehicles produce more harmful emissions as they age.

Electric cars are safer for the environment in the long run, but they still produce a lot of

greenhouse gases. Battery powered cars are the future and they will replace petrol cars in the

upcoming decades. Compared to petrol cars, electric cars are more environmentally friendly

because they are powered by electricity. However, the main problems are the battery and how

the electricity is being produced. If it’s produced by renewable energy, then it’s way better for

the environment. Electric vehicles are not perfect cars that do not harm the earth, but they are a

good alternative and are doing their jobs to conserve the environment. In our opinion after

learning its pros and cons and what making an EV entail, we have determined that is way better

than gas or diesel power vehicles. Yes, it still has an impact on the environment, but is a good

way to start to conserve and protect our home.

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References:

“Electric Vehicle Myths | US EPA.” US EPA, 14 May 2021,

www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths.

Trust For the Environment, Young People’s. “Electric Cars.” Young People’s Trust for the

Environment, ypte.org.uk/factsheets/electric-cars/what-are-the-downsides-to-electric-cars.

Accessed 23 Oct. 2022.

Picatoste, Aitor, Daniel Justel, and Joan Manuel F. Mendoza. "Circularity and life cycle

environmental impact assessment of batteries for electric vehicles: Industrial challenges, best

practices and research guidelines." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 169 (2022):

112941.

Tintelecan, Adriana, Anca Constantinescu Dobra, and Claudia Marţiş. "LCA indicators in

electric vehicles environmental impact assessment." 2019 Electric Vehicles International

Conference (EV). IEEE, 2019.

Ajanovic, Amela, and Reinhard Haas. "On the environmental benignity of electric

vehicles." Journal of sustainable development of energy, water, and environment systems 7.3

(2019): 416-431.