Electric Vehicles are not the answer - we need a more radical solution

NailTamie Haziran 22, 2022

We all know that driving a traditional diesel or petrol car releases CO₂ that contributes to Climate Change. These cars also release pollutants that can be damaging to our health. Many countries are pledging to phase out the production of diesel vehicles urging the car drivers to switch to electric vehicles. But are electric cars always the greenest option or should we be concentrating on a different approach altogether? Whilst electric vehicles undoubtedly produce less CO₂ when being driven they are far from being as environmentally friendly as you might think. For that reason I believe that we should we actually be pushing for a massive reduction in overall car ownership because the negative effect that all cars have on the planet goes far beyond the CO₂ they emit whilst being driven.

We need a more radical solution than witching to Electric Vehicles

Let's start with manufacturing a car. It is estimated that the manufacture of a car will release between 2000kgs and 3250kgs of CO₂ emission. This is true of both electric and traditional cars.

Then driving a traditional car for 10,000 miles (16,000kms) will release approximately 2400kgs CO₂. However it is not only CO₂ that is released when driving a car - there are pollutants in the exhaust fumes and tyres give off micro-plastics as they wear down, polluting waterways.

You cannot drive a car without all the associated infrastructure of the road network, which will all emit CO₂ when being built and maintained. This includes roads, bridges, tunnels etc as well as all that goes with them - crash barriers, road paint, noise abatement walls, traffic lights, signage, speed cameras, car parks, filling/charging stations, service areas, drainage etc etc. Car owners will also buy cleaning products and car accessories. We also need to take into account the secondary environmental costs of illnesses caused by pollution from manufacturing and driving vehicles and injuries from accidents caused by them. Plus there is the loss of habitat where new roads are built/widened as well deaths to wildlife on our roads.

Finally, once a car is finished with what happens to it then? Energy is needed to recycle parts and the remainder ends up in landfill.

Estimates calculate that there are around 1.2 billion cars, worldwide. If we took those 1.2 billion cars and switched them all to electric vehicles you'd be looking at adding around two trillion kgs of CO₂ to the atmosphere simply from their manufacture and that's without any work being done on expanding or maintaining the road infrastructure or disposing of all the old diesel/petrol cars. This is why I do not believe we should not be simply thinking about switching from a traditional car to an electric one but we should be thinking about switching to NOT OWNING CARS AT ALL and living in a world where everyone travels considerably less than at present.

To do this we need to develop a much larger, more efficient and cheaper public transport network and support initiatives such as allowing employees to work from home, use video links for meetings etc etc. We need to go back to smaller and more local shops, schools etc putting all these within easy reach of most people by foot or bicycle. Some people need cars for their jobs and for those living in rural areas it is hard to survive without a car but for many people, with good alternative systems in place they would not need a car and could use car sharing/pooling/leasing when absolutely needed. And for those who currently insist that they do need a car either for their job, because of disability or because of where they live, we really need to stop making excuses and start looking for car free solutions. I don't have the answers but I am sure they exist, if only Governments and people would be willing to alter their lives to use them.

I realise asking people to get rid of their cars is not going to be popular. Cars have become an integral part of our lives and we value the freedom they give us. But this freedom is not sustainable and just switching a traditional car for an EV whilst keeping as many cars on the planet is not the solution. We really need to drastically reduce down the number of all cars.

What do you think - how easy would it be for you to give up your car? Could you start by reducing how much you use it and use ways to drive more efficiently?