Electric vehicles start with a bigger carbon footprint, but that doesn’t last

In the 19th century, cities faced their own emissions problem: horse manure.

With horse-drawn carriages clogging major thoroughfares, cities were burdened with noxious, smelly manure that drew flies and spread disease.

The issue started to resolve itself as internalcombustion engine cars grew in popularity at the beginning of the 20th century. That meant horses, slowly but inexorably, were replaced by vehicles emitting greenhouse gases.

Now, as electric vehicles, or EVs — marketed as a more environmentally friendly vehicular option — replace internal combustion engines, some skeptics are pointing out that they actually have a larger carbon footprint than nonelectric vehicles. That’s due to the manufacturing and disposal of EVs — specifically their batteries — as well as a reliance on coal to create the electricity that powers them.

The good news: Studies have found that, though it’s true that the production of an EV causes more pollution than a gasolinepowered counterpart, this greenhouse-gas emission difference is erased as the vehicle is driven.

And erasing the difference does not appear to take very long. In a study conducted by the University of Michigan (with a grant from the Ford Motor Co.), the pollution equation evens out between 1.4 to 1.5 years for sedans, 1.6 to 1.9 years for SUVs and about 1.6 years for pickup trucks, based on the average number of vehicle miles traveled in the United States.

The study found that, on average, emissions from EV sedans were 35% of the emissions from an internalcombustion sedan. Electric SUVs produced 37% of the emissions of a gasoline-powered counterpart, and an EV pickup created 34% of the emissions of an internal combustion model. (Because gasoline-powered pickups consume more fuel than smaller vehicles, switching to a electric pickup results in a greater reduction in emissions.)

These results vary, based on how much greenhouse gas is created through the production of the electricity needed to charge a battery. The greater the use of renewable sources — such as wind, solar, nuclear and hydropower — the greater the reduction in emissions.

“There are no countries in the world where (EVs) pollute more than internal combustion vehicles,” said Auke Hoekstra, director of energy transition research at the Eindhoven University of Technology. “And when it comes to the U.S., there’s no way in hell that the current electrical generating mix will remain as polluting as it is today.”