E-Cars Reduce CO2 Emissions By Only 41% Compared To ICE Vehicles

Germany’s online FOCUS magazine has a commentary by Sebastian Viehmann on the fallacy of “Zero Emissions” and the EU’s misleading tailpipe measurements.

Viehmann argues that labeling electric vehicles (EVs) as completely “zero-emission” is misleading. While EVs do not have a tailpipe, their carbon footprint depends heavily on how the electricity used to charge them is generated—especially since fossil-fuel plants often supply power during high-demand nighttime and evening hours.

Extracting the raw materials that are needed to build the cars, especially the batteries, is far from being friendly to the environment.

E-cars fall far short of true climate neutrality

Citing research from KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) and a study from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) that anayzed 19 studies and 47 scenarios, the FOCUS article notes that battery-electric vehicles typically reduce CO2 emissions by only about 41% compared to combustion engines, falling far short of true climate neutrality. E cars