A decade ago, spotting an electric car on the roads would be a rare sight, but electric cars are now seen much more frequently. This is reflected in the fact that there was a 60% increase in electric cars from 2021 to 2022, forming a grand total of 26 million electric cars on the road worldwide (2023). Numerous reasons outline the increase in electric cars, including their “eco-friendly” impact, luxury, long-term cost-efficiency, and low noise level. Nevertheless, any given item has downsides, which is undoubtedly true with electric cars. Electric cars are deemed eco-friendly, and although they are certainly more sustainable than the average combustion car, they still harm the environment. Let’s evaluate the degree of this damage using an interdisciplinary lens.
Electric cars use electricity sourced from a rechargeable battery. The aspect of this cycle many don’t consider is that the electricity used to power these vehicles is the same electricity used to power our communities. Electric cars use a little over 400kWh monthly (Marsh, 2023). The average energy consumption for a household is ~900kWh, so significantly more energy is needed to power these cars (2023). In Ontario, 50% of our electricity is from renewable eco-methods, while the other half is from nuclear power plants as displayed in Figure 1 (Pirnia, et al., 2022). Nuclear power isn’t very renewable, as the way Uranium, the ideal reactant to power nuclear fission, is mined and disposed of is extremely harmful to the environment. The rare isotope of Uranium-235 is necessary to maximize nuclear fission and is extracted via mining (2023). Uranium is disposed of similarly, as the radioactive waste is stored in containers and buried deep underground (n.d.). Mining has devastating effects on the environment, destroying ecosystems, which include forests, lakes and other terrains responsible for maintaining climate worldwide. Until the switch to renewable energy sources is made, electric cars will contribute to climate change and ecosystem destruction.
What’s the most essential part of a car? Many would say the engine, but electric cars don’t have this. Instead, the driving force for an electric car is its battery, but these batteries aren’t ordinary; the same can be said about their impact on the environment. Electric cars use special batteries called EVs, which contain lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese (Luong, et al., 2022). The issue lies in the fact that these minerals must be mined and require chemicals, large amounts of water, and labour-intensive effort to produce the metals needed for these batteries as displayed in Figure 2 (Luong, et al., 2022). To produce 1 metric ton of lithium, 500 thousand gallons of water is needed for the evaporation of lithium (Luong, et al., 2022). These batteries are disposed of by burying them in the ground (Wan & Wang, 2022). The ultimate impact of mining these metals results in the loss of biodiversity, water waste and pollution, contributing to climate change and decreasing the quality of life of numerous organisms.
Although humanity is taking a step in the right direction, it’s crucial that the influence of products, such as electric cars, is critically analyzed. There’s still a lot of work to be done in this industry, especially since the way electric cars are powered and store their power has harmful impacts on the planet. However, there’s plenty of innovation taking place to reduce the eco-footprint of these electric cars, so the future is bright.
References
Anon 2022. The Main Electricity Sources in Canada by Province. energyrates.ca. Available at: <https://energyrates.ca/the-main-electricity-sources-in-canada-by-province/> [Accessed 26 Oct. 2023].
Anon 2023. How much energy does an average house use? [online] Anker. Available at: <https://www.anker.com/blogs/home-power-backup/electricity-usage-how-much-energy-does-an-average-house-use> [Accessed 26 Oct. 2023].
Anon 2023. Nuclear explained. [online] U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Available at: <https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/#:~:text=Nuclear%20power%20plants%20use%20a,U%2D235%20is%20relatively%20rare> [Accessed 26 Oct. 2023].
Anon 2023. Trends in electric light-duty vehicles. [online] IEA. Available at: <https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2023/trends-in-electric-light-duty-vehicles> [Accessed 26 Oct. 2023].
Anon 2023. What is nuclear waste, and what do we do with it? [online] World Nuclear Association. Available at: <https://world-nuclear.org/nuclear-essentials/what-is-nuclear-waste-and-what-do-we-do-with-it.aspx#:~:text=Direct%20disposal%20is%2C%20as%20the,sealed%20with%20rocks%20and%20clay.> [Accessed 26 Oct. 2023].
Alessia, A. et al. (2021) ‘Challenges for Sustainable Lithium Supply: A critical review,’ Journal of Cleaner Production, 300. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126954.
Luong, J.H., Tran, C. and Ton-That, D., 2022. A paradox over electric vehicles, mining of lithium for car batteries. A Paradox over Electric Vehicles, Mining of Lithium for Car Batteries, [online] 15(21). Available at: <https://www-engineeringvillage-com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/app/doc/?docid=cpx_2fdc911849bfde97aM661e1017816355&pageSize=25&index=1&searchId=95418d6784704967aba76b1dbf62df02&resultsCount=2015&usageZone=resultslist&usageOrigin=searchresults&searchType=Quick> [Accessed 26 Oct. 2023].
Marsh , J., 2023. How many Watts does an electric car charger use? [online] EnergySage. Available at: <https://www.energysage.com/electricity/house-watts/how-many-watts-does-an-electric-car-charger-use/> [Accessed 26 Oct. 2023].
Pirnia, M., Elsarague, M., Beylunioglu, F.C., Ahmed, M. and Nathwani, J., 2022. Impact of covid-19 on Ontario’s electricity market: Load, generation, emissions. The Electricity Journal, [online] 35(4). Available at: <https://www-engineeringvillage-com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/app/doc/?docid=inspec_M11c398a6185c229dc7b42f81017816363&pageSize=25&index=5&searchId=2b898b151cef4fec8f14dfee4f070989&resultsCount=7448070&usageZone=resultslist&usageOrigin=searchresults&searchType=Quick> [Accessed 26 Oct. 2023].
Wan, T. and Wang, Y., 2022. The hazards of electric car batteries and their recycling. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, [online] 1011(1). Available at: <https://www-engineeringvillage-com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/app/doc/?docid=inspec_7f49c6a718314af10e9M61fc1017816355&pageSize=25&index=1&searchId=a772401f96854359aaf9d9553e91fcd3&resultsCount=11347&usageZone=resultslist&usageOrigin=searchresults&searchType=Quick> [Accessed 26 Oct. 2023].