CO2 scandal with e-cars

E-cars stand for climate-friendly mobility and are soon to replace combustion engines. Many countries are banning more and more diesel and petrol cars. The EU Commission has also set itself the goal of putting 30 million electric cars on the road by 2030.

All the more shocking, therefore, is the news that electric cars probably emit significantly more CO2 than politicians would have us believe. 171 experts wrote this in an open letter to the EU Commission. According to the letter, the CO2 balance has been embellished by a calculation error. This has arisen because the average electricity mix is always used in the calculation of consumption. But if the number of e-cars increases rapidly, then more electricity must be available. But since the capacity of green electricity is already fully used, it would then mostly come from coal and gas.

The difference would be enormous for the CO2 balance, according to the scientists. A VW ID.3 would then no longer consume 14 tonnes of CO2 over its entire life cycle of 15 years and 220,000 km on average, but 30 tonnes - more than double. The production of the vehicle is not yet included here. With these calculations, an electric car is even more harmful to the climate than a modern diesel full hybrid.

The scientists demand that politicians recognise the actual emissions of electric cars and adjust their policies accordingly. While the experts still see the vehicles as an important part of climate protection, they cannot be the panacea as long as we continue to use coal and gas.

With only a limited CO2 budget available for the Paris Climate Agreement's 1.5 degree target, the new calculations of e-cars' CO2 emissions make a huge difference. Worldwide, about 40 gigatonnes of CO2 are emitted annually. If we continue like this, the budget of 420 gigatonnes to the 1.5 degree mark will be reached in about 10 years. So overall, we need to reduce our CO2 footprint. But it seems that not even the electric car can contribute much to this until we also generate more electricity from renewable energies.

It is therefore all the more important that politicians now put more emphasis on public transport and cycle paths and offer more incentives to leave the car behind. This trend already exists in cities like Paris and Barcelona. In Germany, car-free zones are unpopular and the number of vehicles is increasing more and more. According to the latest findings, politicians must now change this and stop lying to consumers with embellished CO2 values.