With the Toyota Prius leading the way, hybrid electric vehicles are firmly established as today’s dominant ‘alternative fuel’ for passenger vehicles, and typically offer up to 50% reduction in tailpipe emissions. Under the natural progression of things, and an increasing desire to move away from fossil fuels, the full electric vehicle would appear to be the next step, and there are already a number of enthusiast models on the market (the Tesla Roadster and the Hyundai Getz converted Blade Electric Vehicle). Mainstream electric vehicles such as the GM Volt, with an anticipated launch date of late 2010, are also likely to become more prevalent in the market.
So what does this mean for our emissions? While electric vehicle technology is often referred to as having zero emissions, and the air quality benefits are excellent at the point of use, the zero emissions description is misleading. The air quality and life cycle greenhouse emissions from fully electric vehicles are heavily influenced by the electricity generation technology.
The Garnaut review examines the emissions of an electric vehicle in an Australian context, and finds that on average an Australian electric car today would generate about 30% more emissions than a similar petrol-fuelled car. The increase would be even higher, at 60%, if the car drew its power from the coal-dependent supplies of Victoria, and up to 85% lower if powered by the hydroelectric grids of Tasmania.
Australia’s reliance on coal could hold back the electric vehicle without investment in renewable power. A simple comparison with the UK, which generates the majority of its electricity from low emissions intensity sources (20% nuclear power and 39% from natural gas), shows that we have a long way to go, with over 75% of Australia’s total electricity production coming from coal in 2005-2006.
Recently, Better Place announced its partnership with AGL and Macquarie to bring a renewable powered electric vehicle network to Australia. Using its existing partnership with Renault-Nissan to produce the vehicles, Better Place expects the first mass market EV models to be available in Australia by 2012.
However, without such a concerted effort to source power from renewables, it is clear that the true emissions benefit of the electric vehicle requires careful consideration. The general and widespread claims relating to the technology should be treated with caution, and for Australia at least, hybrid-electric drivetrain will continue to offer the most effective emissions reductions for passenger vehicles in the short term.