EVS are not emission free, says watchdog

Electric carmakers told to take account of carbon footprint in charging and manufacturing process

ELECTRIC cars cannot be advertised as completely “zero emission” because of the carbon dioxide that is generated when they are made and charged, the advertising watchdog has declared.

In a ruling that will change how electric vehicles (EVS) are promoted, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned car makers from referring to them as zero emission unless they make clear this is only while driving.

The decision came as the regulator criticised BMW for describing its EVS as “zero emission cars” in Google searches.

In its ruling, the ASA said: “We understood that when electric vehicles were driven no emissions were produced, unlike a car with a petrol or diesel engine where emissions came from the tailpipe.

“However, in other circumstances, such as the manufacture or charging of an electric vehicle using electricity from the national grid, emissions were generated.

“For that reason an ad that featured a “zero emissions” claim, that did not make explicitly clear that it was related to the reaction of the vehicle while it was being driven was likely to mislead.”

It is understood to be the first time the ASA has issued such a ruling on cars and comes amid a crackdown on so-called greenwashing, where companies over-promote their eco credentials.

However, the ASA’S stance appears at odds with that of the Government, which is calling battery-powered EVS “zero emission vehicles” for the purposes of the new ZEV mandate.

The rule requires carmakers to make EVS an ever-bigger proportion of their sales, rising steadily from 22 per cent this year to 80 per cent by 2030.

With manufacturers under pressure to sell higher numbers of EVS, the ASA’S ruling will be a fresh headache.

While a typical battery EV creates no emissions at the tailpipe while driving, carbon dioxide (CO2) is generated if they are charged from Britain’s power grid because of its reliance on gas. Meanwhile, about eight tons of CO2 equivalent is generated when an EV is manufactured, according to the International Energy Agency.

That includes 1.4 tons related to the battery’s critical minerals, 1.2 tons during the battery’s assembly and then another 5.4 tons when the full vehicle is manufactured.

By comparison, making an internal combustion engine ( ICE) car creates about six tons of CO2 equivalent.

However, the lifetime emissions of an EV are generally far less, at about 11.7 tonnes of CO2 for charging compared to 35.9 tons of CO2 created by the fuel for ICE cars.

A BMW spokesman said that the company would comply with the ASA’S ruling. Asked whether it agreed with the ASA’S definition of zero emissions, the Government declined to comment yesterday.

However, a spokesman noted that the ZEV mandate simply requires the exhaust emissions of a car to be “zero grams per mile” while meeting the minimum standards for range and warranty.