Electric cars are not inherently more climate-friendly than combustion engines. This is shown by a study by the VDI Society for Vehicle and Traffic Technology (VDI: Association of German Engineers).
Accordingly, the climate balance is one thing Electric cars only get better when they have been driven 65,000 kilometers. It won’t come with it Green electricity, but charged with coal electricity, even after 90,000 kilometers.
But why is it like that? Finally, the electric version does not emit any exhaust fumes.
Propellant gases and pollutants
One of the reasons: The mining of raw materials for battery production and the delivery from Asia generates massive amounts Greenhouse gases. This is far too resource-intensive, emphasizes the company’s chairman, Joachim Damasky.
Not only that: special raw materials are required to produce the batteries (including lithium, nickel and cobalt). During mining, pollutants and sometimes toxic and radioactive residues are created. There is a huge need for improvement here Damasky also emphasizes making e-mobility truly climate-friendly. “A lot still needs to happen here in Germany.”
That’s why electric cars and hybrid vehicles can only score points in the long term, i.e. after many thousands of kilometers.
Another problem: disposal
For 2023, the annual demand for lithium is 961,000 tons. Chile, Brazil and Argentina are among the largest lithium producers.
In addition to environmental damage caused by mining, there is another problem there: in order to extract lithium, mineral-rich groundwater is pumped into huge basins in the already extremely dry areas. Only when the water has evaporated is lithium extracted from the residue.
This leads to dramatic water shortages in the affected areas. Rivers are drying up, agriculture is suffering, and water for the population is being rationed.
Disposing of old batteries is also a problem. The Berlin Öko-Institut estimates that around 100,000 tons of electric car batteries are in circulation every year. They all want to be recycled one day. There is currently no patent solution for this. This means: Nobody really knows yet how to reuse the raw materials without producing toxic waste.