???? ???? ??????: ?????????? ?????? ???? ???????????? ?????? ?????? ?????????????????????? ??

Which vehicle is better for the planet: electric or gas-powered? While the answer it’s obvious, electric cars are better for the environment for several different reasons, although they are not perfect. Let’s analyze how EVs are a better solution throughout the vehicle life cycle.

?? ???????????????????? & ?????????????? ( 0 miles driven )

?????????? ?????????? ??: 12.2 tons

???????????? ????????: 7.5 tons

In a study from the WSJ and researchers at the University of Toronto, they have analyzed the CO2 emissions of two different models. A Tesla Model 3 and a Toyota RAV4. The research shows that building both an EV and a Gas-powered car generates several tons of CO2 emissions throughout the whole manufacturing process and vehicle assembly.

Although, for the EV’s batteries there is the need to mine and extract lithium, through an energy-intensive process, therefore they estimate that Tesla has generated 65% more emissions than Toyota in the production phase.

?? ?????????????? ?????? ???????? ( 5.000 miles driven )

?????????? ?????????? ??: 12.8 tons

???????????? ????????: 9.1 tons

It’s time to drive both cars and it’s where the scene starts to reverse. The $TM (Toyota) RAV4 runs through gasoline, coming from the extraction of crude oil. On the other hand, $TSLA (Tesla Motors, Inc.) Model 3 only needs electricity from the power grid. As the power grid in the U.S. is getting cleaner by using renewables and natural gas, power generation emits less and less CO2 emissions and the trend is to get lower in the following years.

At this point the RAV4 has generated more than 21% CO2 emissions from the production phase, while Tesla only had an increase of 4% since hitting the road.

? ???????????????? ?????????? ( 20.000 miles driven )

?????????? ?????????? ??: 14.6 tons

???????????? ????????: 14.5 tons

By the time they get to 20.000 miles driven, the RAV4 has already caught up with the Model 3 in CO2 emissions. According to the study, for every mile driven, the electricity generated for the ?????????? ?????????? ????% ???? ?????? ?????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????, ???????????????? ?????? ?????????????? ???????????????? for the RAV4.

From this point, Tesla will be more environmentally friendly.

?? ?????????????? ???? ?????? ( 200.000 miles driven )

?????????? ?????????? ??: 36.0 tons

???????????? ????????: 78.0 tons

With 200.000 miles the leading is obvious and by far Tesla has generated less CO2 emissions. According to the study, the RAV4 has generated more ???? ???????? of emissions than the Tesla EV did.

The study doesn’t end here. They studied different scenarios to reach the Paris Agreement goals.

?? ???????????????????? ???????????? ?????????????????????? ???? ????????

The study even calculated 4 different case scenarios to analyze how important really is the shift to EV’s in terms of global temperature. The goal of the Paris Agreement is limited to ???? ???????????????? between 2019 and 2050, according to the University of Toronto researchers.

?? ???????????????? ??: Business as usual

For the first scenario they assume that gasoline-powered cars in the U.S. will still dominate, with EV’s only representing 10% of the whole market by 2050.

In this case, CO2 emissions will be 49 gigatons, so failing by 10 gigatons to meet the Paris Agreement objective. It’s a total fail.

?? ???????????????? ??: Hybrid Nation

Maybe we can have both? A Hybrid is basically a car that combines both an electric motor with a gasoline engine. With these types of vehicles, gasoline consumption would be reduced by half.

Although, it still generates 42 gigatons by 2050, being not sufficient to reach the agreement goals. It’s not a big failure, but still above the range.

?????????????????? ??: California Dreaming

California Governor Newsom started to drastically push for EV’s, requiring that by 2035 all new cars and passenger trucks sold in California be zero-emission vehicles.

What if all the states took this stance to push EVs? According to the study, emissions would fall to 35.4 gigatons by 2050, below the Paris Agreement goal by almost 4 gigatons.

?????????????????? ??: Mix of strategies

The best-case scenario: The U.S. not only pushes EV’s but also other strategies to reduce emissions. As they give for example, improving fuel efficiency, making cars lighter and decreasing miles traveled per person.

They could use biofuels to substitute fossil fuels while the EV transition is happening, focus on getting the power grid even cleaner and transition to renewables such as solar and wind, incentivize the work-from-home and highly reduce the work-transportation need, as long as many measures that can be taken to have a sustainable future.

?? ?????? ?????? ?? ???? ?????????????

Find my profile on eToro:

?? https://www.etoro.com/people/paulogabrielsa

Thanks for reading.

Let me know what's your opinion in the comments down below.


All the best,

Paulo Sá

(source: www.wsj.com/graphics/are-electric-cars-really-better-for-the-environment/ )