After four years of absence, the Paris Motor Show, which takes place from Monday to October 23, opens under the sign of electric mobility. Many manufacturers are expected to present their new models there. Faced with rising fuel prices and recent announcements by the European Parliament, which voted last June 8 the end of sales of new thermal cars in 2035, the automobile market is undergoing many transformations. Among which its electrification.
In 2021, sales of 100% electric vehicles were multiplied by six compared to 2016, increasing from 28,300 to 174,000. But are all electric cars environmentally viable? In a notice published last Wednesdaythe Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe) insisted on the fact that an electric car is less polluting than a gasoline model if it remains light, with a battery of “reasonable capacity” and therefore a limited autonomy.
Electric SUVs with a high carbon footprint
In its report, Ademe thus recalls that “over its entire lifespan, an electric car has a carbon impact 2 to 3 times lower than that of a similar thermal model, provided that its battery makes less 60 kWh, the equivalent of a Peugeot 208 or a Renault Mégane at most, with autonomy of around 400 kilometres”. With a larger, much heavier battery, “the environmental benefit is not guaranteed, explains the agency. Compared to a compact diesel sedan, the carbon debt is reimbursed after approximately 15,000 kilometers for a small electric city-type vehicle whereas it is only reimbursed after 100,000 kilometers for a high-end electric SUV.”
The “carbon debt” of electric cars corresponds to the amount of CO2 emissions emitted before the first kilometer. That is everything that was used to build the car, from the extraction of materials to the manufacture of parts. “Electric vehicles emit more CO2 during their production compared to thermal ones, in particular because of the battery”, indicates Aurélien Bigo, researcher on the energy transition of transport, associated with the Energy and Prosperity Chair of the Institut Louis Bachelor. “At the time of purchase, the electric vehicle is considered to have a debt on its manufacturing emissions”. According to Ademe, this “carbon debt” therefore takes longer to amortize for electric SUVs, whose batteries require more capacity. “In principle, it is true that a heavier car will cause more emissions, comments Thomas Gibon, researcher at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST). But the electric car will always be more virtuous than the thermal.”
Indispensable to achieve carbon neutrality commitments
According to several researchers contacted by L’Express, Ademe’s result on the carbon debt of electric SUVs needs to be qualified. Because in its comparative study, the agency opposes a compact diesel sedan and an electric SUV. “The comparison is not necessarily fair, because it is not the same type of car, points out Thomas Gibon. I think that if the comparison had been made with a thermal SUV, the carbon debt balance point would be long before 100,000 kilometres.”
In study returned to the European Commission in 2020, the Ricardo energy and environment consultancy confirms this report. The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) also offers a greenhouse gas emissions comparator, Climobil, between the two types of cars and according to different models. In comparison, a thermal SUV from a German car manufacturer emits three times more greenhouse gases than an electric SUV from the same manufacturer. And the carbon debt of the electric vehicle is reimbursed around 20,000 kilometres. “In general, we cannot consider that the car, whether thermal or electric, is ecological”, tempers Aurélien Bigo. “In terms of technology, electricity is essential to achieve our commitments to carbon neutrality made during the Paris agreements, we cannot ignore that. Nevertheless, it is not enough, in particular because it also pollutes “, he adds.
Indeed, more and more studies confirm the lower air pollution of electric cars compared to thermal ones. But beyond the ecological problem posed by its manufacture – in particular the significant needs in lithium, nickel or even cobalt -, when it drives, the electric car releases more fine particles in connection with the abrasion of the tires. It is the weight, greater for an electric car than for a thermal one, which causes this phenomenon. It is responsible, all vehicles combined, for “28% of the microparticles dumped into the ocean each year”, reports Ademe.
Towards a transition of uses?
For many researchers, it is therefore necessary to think about a transition in the uses of the car, instead of transposing the codes of their thermal equivalents to electric vehicles. “Manufacturers are sticking to the imagination of thermal vehicles to build electric ones. However, manufacturing larger batteries requires more metals and increases our carbon footprint”, explains Stéphane Amant, mobility specialist at Carbone 4.
“The idea is that there cannot be a viable transition if we continue to drive an SUV, even electric”, announces Aurélien Bigo. “In any case, these vehicles consume more energy, resources, public spaces and are more expensive to buy. Obviously, you have to switch to electric, but with sobriety in mobility in mind”. A transition that involves lighter and smaller vehicles, suitable for daily use, with less powerful batteries (60 kWh), and therefore less autonomous (about 400 kilometers). “The race for greater battery autonomy is not ecologically viable, announces Thomas Gibon. We must accept this lesser battery autonomy and travel differently, for example by stopping at a rest area to recharge, or else favoring the train for long journeys.”
To really reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we must first “re-examine the place of the automobile in our travels”, also underlines Ademe in its report. That is to say, reduce the distances traveled for work or leisure, and prefer walking, cycling, public transport, carpooling, or car sharing. “Electrifying the automobile is a very interesting lever for decarbonizing transport, but if we only do that, we cannot achieve it. It is a necessary but not unique condition”, concludes Stéphane Amant.