A recent study from North Carolina State apparently shows EVs will not reduce pollution in the long term. This seems to be counterintuitive and it turns out what the media ran with is not reflective of the report when it’s considered fully. But you have to dig down to find out what the study actually did say. On closer examination the study concludes that higher EV uptake can significantly reduce carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide emissions. Now why would the media get that wrong? I’ll leave that to the conspiracy theorists.
To quote from the Natural Resources Defence Council: “the North Carolina state study confirms what the vast majority of studies have shown: electric cars are a key part of our longer-term strategy to cut carbon and smog-forming pollutants.” Read the article here
“Numerous peer-reviewed articles have reached the same conclusion — from cradle to grave, electric cars are the cleanest vehicles on the road today.“ As electricity grids become cleaner and inefficient coal powered stations are retired, EVs (even if powered by traditional grid resources) will become cleaner and cleaner. Of course if they are powered by renewables there are virtually no emissions whatsoever. You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to understand this – it is just common sense. Oil is becoming more difficult to extract cheaply and efficiently. More energy is required to extract it as conventional supplies dwindle. This leads to higher prices at the pump and a great deal more pollution. See for example the Canadian oil sands energy return. In contrast clean energy sources are becoming more efficient and cheaper to produce. So who thinks EVs are going to be more polluting than oil driven vehicles?
