3 Reasons Electric Vehicles Aren’t Enough to Save the Environment

In the United States, transportation accounts for 27 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Most of these emissions come from burning gasoline and diesel in internal combustion engines. Thanks to a healthy economy, the amount of driving is at an all-time high and growing. To combat the resulting growth in emissions, some assume that electric-powered vehicles will allow traffic to continue to grow and contribute to a better environment. However, electric vehicles can only go so far in addressing environmental goals.

Electric vehicles have three main shortcomings:

Not as environmentally friendly as they seem. Determining the environmental impact of any vehicle means studying its full life cycle from production through disposal. The environmental effectiveness of electric vehicles depends heavily on the type of fuel used to create the electricity. Coal, which is far dirtier than burning gasoline, still makes up about 30 percent of electricity production in the U.S. Regions that generate electricity with hydroelectric, solar or wind power could see some environmental benefits from increased electric vehicle use. But in order to replace the 133 billion gallons of gasoline consumed each year, the U.S. would have to produce nearly 30 percent more electricity, straining the grid and requiring new sources of electricity. Electric vehicles become even less environmentally friendly when factoring in the harmful effects of mining for the rare metals, like the lithium necessary for the vehicles’ batteries, and of disposing or recycling (which still creates emissions) those batteries at the end of their lives.

A small portion of the total vehicle fleet. While sales of electric vehicles grew by an impressive 37 percent from 2015 to 2016 – and consumers will soon have even more options (Tesla released its all-electric, mass-market Model 3 earlier this year, and Volvo announced that starting in 2019, it will produce only EVs or hybrids) – only 160,000 electric vehicles were sold in 2016, less than 1 percent of the 17.6 million vehicles sold that year. Even if the electric vehicle market grows at 100 percent annually, it will take nearly 10 years for all new vehicles to become electric. And even then, three quarters of the total fleet would still be gasoline-powered models. Full fleet turnover will take much longer.

A tough business. Despite optimistic goals, Chevrolet canceled its hybrid SUVs in 2013 after weak sales, and Tesla’s stock recently dropped after its Model 3 production has not been robust. Car companies are struggling to produce an electric vehicle that matches the convenience, range and cost of the gasoline engine. For their part, consumers appear to be more interested in big, gas-guzzling vehicles like trucks and SUVs. Over 10 million SUVs and trucks were sold in 2016, a 650,000-vehicle increase over 2015. That’s more than four times the total amount of electric vehicles sold, even with the $7,500 federal tax credit for them.

Despite these challenges, electric vehicles will certainly be a part of a sustainable transportation future. But they can only go so far in addressing the urgent need to reduce emissions now. To make a real difference, we need to create better alternatives to driving.

We can do this by building new schools, single-family homes and stores and offices with walking, biking and public transit in mind. Local leaders should rethink and reinvest in our public transportation systems so that they become viable options. Communities should remove parking minimums and appropriately charge for street parking. Elected officials should promote congestion charging and tolling where it makes sense, in order to curb overcrowded roads and create new revenues to reinvest in public transit and other transportation options.

These ideas are not new, nor do they require technological breakthroughs. But they do require a change in how we think about building communities and how we get around in them.

Electric vehicles alone won’t drive us to a cleaner climate, but they can be part of a combination of strategies. We need clear goals on reducing emissions, rather than reliance on a specific, and unproven, technology.