Are Electric Cars Really Green ?

There are many problems with Electric Cars (or EVs). The driving range was an average of 315Km, now it is 393[1]. If you forget to charge it and come to a halt, you can't go to the petrol station for a refill. If you remember in time, you still have to wait up to 2 hours for it to charge. What a waste of your life !

Rubbish Tip

When you buy a new car, there is a chain reaction. As an example, you sell your 2-year old car to buy an EV. Someone else sells his 5-year old car to buy yours. At the end of the chain, there is either an extra car on the road because the last one is dirt cheap. Or it ends up in the tip. Sorry, neither option is Green. Lithium batteries are also not currently widely recyclable [2] and have a life of about 10 to 15 years !

Grid uses Fossil Fuels

In most countries, the majority of the power generated by the grid is either Nuclear or Fossil Fuel. So, for most people, charging an electric car at the end of the grid still uses Fossil Fuels. Only a few countries like New Zealand produce the majority (but not ALL) of their power from non-fossil sources, such as Hydro [3].

Grid is Inefficient

Grid production and transmission are inefficient. For example, in Malaysia, for every 100MWhr generated, less than 32MWhr reaches the consumer [4]. A whopping 68% is lost in generation, transmission and conversion. Yup, now you are destroying the Earth even faster, because you are using three times the amount of fuel you used to before you went EV. I hope you are still feeling good about it !

Production is Dirty

The manufacture of an EV is very very dirty. EVs need Lithium Batteries. The batteries need Lithium and Graphene [5]. The production of both Lithium [6] and Graphene [7] is so not Green. To improve efficiency, an EV normally uses ultra-ultra processed composite materials from carbon fibre and plastics. Surely, rusting iron is a Greener product to make cars from.

Conclusion

I fail to see how an Electric car is Green in any sense of the word. Unless it is green in colour. I recommend that if you want to feel good about it, then (for now) get a hybrid. If an Electric car is not Green, then why are the Greens telling you to jump on the bandwagon ?