“Two million electric vehicles produced in France in 2030.” Emmanuel Macron recalled this objective, Monday, October 17, by going to the Paris Motor Show. Bonus, tariff shield… The President of the Republic had also announced a battery of measures in favor of electric cars the day before. The goal, according to the Head of State, is to “meet the objective for the climate, for the reindustrialization of the country, and for our sovereignty”. However, from an environmental point of view, the electric car is not so virtuous. Franceinfo details why the only “transition to electric” thermal car does not offer a sustainable solution to depollute our travels.
Because the electric car is not completely “clean”
As franceinfo has already explained, an electric car pollutes. When it leaves the factory, even before it has been driven, it has a greater environmental footprint than that of a thermal vehicle of equivalent size, summarizes Bertrand-Olivier Ducreux, transport and mobility engineer at the Environment and energy management (Ademe).
“This environmental footprint is much higher for the electric car, mainly because of its battery.”
Bertrand-Oivier Ducreux, transport and mobility engineer at Ademeat franceinfo
Cobalt, nickel, manganese, lithium… Electric car batteries require metals whose extraction is particularly polluting. The electric car therefore starts with a clear environmental delay on its thermal counterpart. This gap is only filled after 40,000 to 50,000 km of road, according to estimates by Ademe. This catch-up occurs “provided you have a French electric mix”that is to say with a large share of electricity with low greenhouse gas emissions, such as nuclear, specifies Bertrand-Olivier Ducreux.
However, over its entire lifespan, an electric car driving in France has a carbon impact two to three times lower than that of a similar thermal model. But a new downside remains to be emphasized: this estimate is only valid for batteries of less than 60 kWh, the equivalent of a Peugeot e208 or a Renault Mégane at most, with autonomy of around 400 km.
Because it is too greedy in rare raw materials
Let’s take the example of a Renault Zoé battery. To produce it, it takes 7 kilos of lithium, 11 kilos of manganese, 11 kilos of cobalt and 34 kilos of nickel. The total represents around 63 kilos of metals, illustrated “Complement of the investigation”, on France 2, in 2020.
These raw materials are found in limited quantities on our planet. Julien Pillot, economist, anticipates “conflicts of use” because the same resources are needed for wind turbines and photovoltaics. In addition, the risk is to replace dependence on oil-exporting countries with dependence on countries extracting rare metals, such as China.
For its cables and rotors, an electric vehicle also requires a much greater quantity of copper than a thermal vehicle. For Marco Daturi, professor and researcher in the catalysis and spectrochemistry laboratory at the University of Caen, this is a dead end.
“At the current rate of extraction, in twenty years we will have consumed almost all the copper stock available on Earth.”
Marco Daturi, researcher at the catalysis and spectrochemistry laboratory of the University of Caenat franceinfo
According to him, this means that“it is impossible to replace the internal combustion engine fleet exclusively with electric cars” and that we can only do it on one “relatively low percentage”.
Because the ecological interest of electric only applies to light cars
“The carbon impact of an electric vehicle increases almost proportionally to its weight, itself strongly impacted by the storage capacity of its battery.“, writes Ademe in a notice published on October 10. The Agency encourages motorists to “choose a car with a battery that is just suitable for majority use” and opt for “the smallest and lightest vehicle model possible”.
Critics therefore logically emerged when Renault unveiled a stocky SUV on Monday as a new electric model of the mythical 4L. “It’s nonsense to make an electric SUV”judge Marco Daturi.
“In France, around 40% of vehicles are SUVs. It is absolutely necessary to rebalance that, to move towards much lighter vehicles.”
Pierre Leflaive, Transport Manager at the Climate Action Networkat franceinfo
Despite this novelty of the diamond brand against the grain of Ademe’s recommendations, Bertrand-Olivier Ducreux detects positive signals. “Until last year, the best-selling electric car in France was the Tesla Model 3, a very high-end car, which is very expensive”. According to him, “many people had an elitist preconception about the electric car”. This view tends to change. Over the first eight months of 2022, the five best-selling electric cars in France are the Peugeot e208, the Fiat 500e, the Dacia Spring, the Renault Zoé and the Renault Twingo E-TECH. He notes that these are generally cars that are not SUVs, which cost less than 30,000 euros before public aid, and weigh between 1,200 and 1,250 kilos empty. “These cars have found their market and show an industrial reality”comments the engineer.
Because the electric car is only virtuous over short distances
Listening to them, political leaders or automobile manufacturer executives consider the “transition to electric” such as the replacement of the thermal car by the electric car. “We will soon have cars that will exceed 600 km of autonomy”said Tuesday on franceinfo Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis. And to add: “As long as consumers want to buy autonomy, my mission is [d’y] answer.”
“If we replace a thermal vehicle with an electric vehicle, we do not achieve our climate objectives”notes Pierre Leflaive, from the Climate Action Network.
“The simple substitution of thermal by electric is not satisfactory.”
Bertrand-Olivier Ducreuxat franceinfo
Ademe, insists the engineer, highlights the small electric car, “an effective and relevant tool”for daily trips within a radius of a few tens of kilometres. “Until recently, the thermal vehicle was the Swiss army knife of mobility, it could do everything. We cannot stay in this model”, believes Bertrand-Olivier Ducreux. He calls for a “break in behavior” compared to a period when “we partly chose our vehicle for the few most restrictive trips of the year” : going on vacation several hundred kilometers from home, with a lot of luggage, one or more children, and sometimes bicycles on the roof.
For these long journeys, he sees the electric car as a link in the chain. Instead of making the whole trip by car, it would be a question of taking a bus or a car to reach a station, for example. From there, possibly, public transport would make it possible to take a main line train. Once there, renting an electric car would allow you to go to your vacation spot and drive within a radius of 40-50 km.
Because it is the place of the car (electric or not) that needs to be reviewed
The electric car is just one “brick among a wider and more diversified range of mobility services”, writes Ademe. This projection comes up against regional planning, which has favored roads and the automobile, leaving the rail network to erode. Result: the personal car is one of the main modes of daily transport for 72% of French people, while half of the journeys are less than 5 km, reports Ademe.
“Because of societal choices, political choices, part of the population must use a car. We cannot blame them.”
Marco Daturiat franceinfo
Like Ademe, the chemical researcher pleads not for a single solution, but for “solutions that will be inserted into the fabric of the territory”. The project is as ambitious as it is delicate. “Challenge the whole car in society, invest massively in rail, long distance, but also short distance, reduce the distances between home and work, reduce urban sprawl… It’s a trajectory politically more difficult than betting everything on the electric car”analyzes Julien Pillot, economist, Inseec researcher, associated with the CNRS.
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This profound change is nevertheless necessary, judges Pierre Leflaive. He recalls that 13 million people in France are in “mobility precarious situation”, that is to say without access to an individual or collective mode of transport, according to the Foundation for Nature and Man. For the Transport Manager of the Climate Action Network, reducing the car fleet does not mean reducing travel. According to him, it is about providing more opportunities for people who need them. In this view, “Rail will be the spearhead of the transition of the transport sector and this means investing massively”he notes.
“The challenge is not to move less well. On the contrary, it is to better adapt to our needs, and in the end to have better mobility for everyone.”
Pierre Leflaiveat franceinfo
It is still necessary, concedes Pierre Leflaive, to improve the quality of the alternatives: their punctuality, their regularity, their price but also their comfort. According to the boss of the SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, an envelope of 100 billion euros over fifteen years is necessary to double the share of the train in travel. It would include investments to upgrade the aging network, the development of RER and new high-speed lines. Response from Clément Beaune, Minister of Transport: “I really want that if we free up budgetary means – and we will free up some –, we put them as a priority on this transport for work, everyday life most often, and on the network. The electrification of the car fleet and the revitalization of the train could derail the public accounts. The challenge for the state will be to hold the charge.