Updates

Petrol cars emit four times as much CO2 as EVs, new study finds

Electric vehicles (EVS) emit a ¼ of the CO2 that conventional petrol and diesel cars do on average. If one takes the manufacturing of the batteries for EVs, this would still be ½ the emissions of conventional cars.

Additionally, the increasing decarbonisation of Britain’s electricity supply, means that today’s EVs could produce just 1/10 of the emissions of petrol cars in 5 years time. This means that the electricity the EVs use comes from an increasingly low-carbon mix.

There are more than 200,000 EVs on Britain’s roads and this is growing by 30% a year. Electricity generation is decarbonising faster in the UK than anywhere else in the world. Wind, solar, biomass and hydro supplied a record of 55% of demand on 30th June 2019.

One in 40 cars sold in the UK are now electric, around ⅓ of cars are pure battery models and ⅔ of are plug-in hybrids. Britain’s EV fleet is expected to expand by ten-fold over the next 5 to 10 years.

The electrification of transport is vital to address the climate crisis and contribute to a zero carbon future.