Since the price of gasoline has taken its toll, more and more of us are looking at electric cars. While some see in the electrification of transport a saving way out of our dependence on the automobile, others chant that it hides a heap of ecological abominations. What if the truth lies… between the two?
• Read also: Gas at $2/L: Here’s exactly why the war in Ukraine is driving up gas prices here
• Read also: War in Ukraine: our dependence on hydrocarbons finances Russia
Electric car myths die hard. We sometimes hear that its battery is more polluting than a gasoline engine and that it recycles poorly.
At the heart of this information war, we must be aware that there can be many nuances when it comes to electric cars. Firstly because the components of the batteries, in addition to evolving at great speed, are not all identical, but also because the power sources vary from one country to another, going from hydroelectricity coal.
Let’s start, however, by clarifying what is still unclear to some.
More myths than harm
The fact is that in Quebec, the complete life cycle of an electric vehicle has a lower environmental impact than a gas-powered car, if we rely on a life cycle analysis carried out in 2016 for Hydro-Québec. Manufacturing can have a heavier balance sheet than a traditional automobile (among other things because of the resources needed to extract certain metals). But thanks to hydroelectricity, over 150,000 km, an electric vehicle will emit 65% less greenhouse gases (GHG) than its gasoline counterpart.
As for the majority of batteries that we currently find on Western markets, most are part of the battery family lithium ion which largely contain lithium, cobalt and nickel, all metals that can be recycled and recovered, as the company Recyclage Lithion proved a year ago by implementing a technique that allows them to be upgrade to 95% through hydrometallurgy.
Finally, if for some people buying electric may seem unattainable, let’s keep in mind that a battery-powered car owner will spend 8 to 10 times less per year on energy and maintenance than a motor-powered owner. The high purchase cost, according to the provincial government’s website, will therefore be met within three to six years.
A far from perfect solution.
So yes, both environmentally and economically (and even health-wise!), an electric car is a wise purchase compared to its good old oil-fueled friend.
On the other hand, an electric car remains a CAR, that is to say a machine with which you can travel thousands of kilometers within a day and this, without getting wet by the rain. It is therefore logical that it requires more resources than a bicycle, from the beginning to the end of its life.
Another myth that I would therefore like us to abolish is that the transition to electric will solve our dependence on long-distance travel, which is well known in Quebec.
The electric car is not a miracle solution. It is an interesting alternative, which will only become miraculous if combined with a change in the layout of our urban and rural spaces that motivate daily walking, cycling and public transport… rather than solo driving.
This is the real saving outcome. But I’ll save that for another column.