Nope, charging electric cars doesn’t pollute as much driving gas ones does

Two of the longest-running, spurious counterclaims to electric vehicles’ viability as a true alternative to traditional combustion engines may finally be put to rest once and for all. A new study released by the International Council on Clean Transportation details its “global comparison of the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of combustion engine and electric passenger cars,” finding that “even for cars registered today, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have by far the lowest life-cycle [greenhouse gas] emissions.”

“Additionally, as the electricity mix continues to decarbonize, the life-cycle emissions gap between BEVs and gasoline vehicles increases substantially when considering medium-size cars projected to be registered in 2030,” explains the ICCT.

The organization found that the average lifespan of an average EV already emits 66–69 percent less than gas equivalents in Europe, with 60–68 percent lower in the United States, 37–45 percent in China, and 19–34 percent in India. Importantly, the ICCT also notes that those disparities will only increase as energy grids inevitably become less “dirty” in the years ahead.

So, the next time your contrarian friend tries offering the same, tired bad faith arguments on EVs, feel free to direct them to the ICCT’s study.

Cherry-picking the information — For years, many skeptics and critics of EV capabilities argued that electric battery-powered transportation essentially offered very little improvement over gas-guzzlers thanks to its reliance on traditional energy infrastructure, or “dirty grids.” Naysayers would also point towards the resource mining needed to produce EVs’ batteries and charging units as an additional source of pollution.

While few, if any, deny that pollution is still generated in the creation of EVs, as the saying goes — “there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism.” Even if electric vehicles are made under less-than-ideal energy constraints, ICCT’s look into the long-term, overall lifespan of EVs shows that they still are far more eco-friendly than their gas counterparts.

A lot of work still needs to be done — As Electrek points out about the ICCT’s results, global usage and implementation of EV infrastructure are still falling far below those outlined by the Paris Climate Accords. Although not terribly surprising given, y’know, everything around us these days, it’s still unfortunate to see laid out so starkly.

As more news comes out combatting EV misinformation, however, hopefully more people will begin looking into making the switch as soon as possible... just make sure they don’t see that Ford Mach-Eau perfume. That would turn anyone off EVs.