No contest: Why EVs are already much greener than combustion engine cars

The research is clear: In major markets that make up 70% of global new passenger car sales, today’s battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are associated with far fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) over their lifetimes.

More than that, ICEV tailpipe emissions during their operation can exceed the full life-cycle emissions of a BEV, from initial manufacturing to operation to end-of-life. As there are narratives out there—some recent—that may confuse things, allow me to guide you through the climate benefits one at a time.

Let’s start with some numbers for the U.S. market. Figure 1, from our paper from last year, shows the estimated life-cycle GHG emissions for a representative ICEV and BEV sport utility vehicle (SUV) built in 2024 (left panel) and in 2030 (right panel).

When comparing the climate pollution emitted over the lifetime of SUVs built in 2024, the GHG emissions of the BEV SUV with a 300-mile range are 71% lower than the ICEV (the BEV is powered by the average grid mix in the United States from 2024–2041).

Looking ahead to the 2030–2047 U.S. average grid mix, BEVs are associated with 77% fewer GHG emissions than ICEVs. As the electricity grid becomes still cleaner after 2047, the emissions advantage of BEVs will only grow. Indeed, several states and cities are approaching their goal of a fully renewable electricity grid.

Figure 1. Estimated life-cycle GHG emissions for model year 2024 and 2030 SUV

Source: O’Malley and Slowik (2024)

Our analysis comports with other studies (here’s one from 2015 that was updated in 2020) which found that driving a 300-mile-range BEV with an average efficiency of 0.31 kWh per mile in every U.S. state had significantly lower life-cycle GHG emissions than the average ICEV.

As you can see in Figure 1, BEVs outperform all vehicle types, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs).

According to news reports, though, some Americans remain skeptical of the green credentials. Headlines such as this one are no doubt contributing, but this article refers to a study by Emission Analytics that considered tire emissions and not any other emissions, including GHGs.

And the article is refuted by the researcher himself: “They conflate and blur and obfuscate and play fast and loose with the definitions. And that’s completely wrong.”

Understanding manufacturing phase emissions

Because of the emissions from battery manufacturing, electric vehicles start their life with an “emissions debt” compared with ICEVs. The emissions from battery production, which are about 25% of a BEV’s life-cycle emissions today, arise from the mining and processing of battery minerals such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt, and the manufacturing of other battery components.

At the end of the manufacturing phase of the same 2024 SUVs analyzed above, BEVs were associated with slightly more than 12 tonnes of CO₂e (including battery manufacturing) and ICEVs about 8 tonnes of CO₂e.

However, as BEVs have zero tailpipe emissions when they operate, this debt is typically offset within 1–2 years of driving and then the gap widens more and more in later years, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Estimated tonnes of CO₂e emissions from three 2024 vehicle types

Source: Based on analysis in O’Malley and Slowik (2024)

Operation phase emissions: BEVs are without peer

To get a sense of just how much greener BEVs are, it’s important to understand that BEVs are also more energy efficient than ICEVs. They convert a greater share of energy into wheels and motion and BEVs require only about one-fourth (or less) the energy needed to power a comparable ICEV.

Meanwhile, the gasoline needed to power ICEVs requires continuous extraction and refining of fossil fuels for as long as the vehicles remain on the road.

As I mentioned above, ICEV tailpipe emissions alone can exceed the full life-cycle emissions of a BEV. By the end of the typical operation phase of a 2024 SUV, we estimated that BEVs have emitted about 130 g CO₂e/mile and ICEVs have emitted more than 450 g CO₂e/mile.

As electric grids continue to shift toward cleaner, renewable sources of energy, the emissions benefits of the electric vehicles already on the road will become even more pronounced. Moreover, while the environmental impact of BEVs can be further reduced by recycling their mineral content, deploying new battery chemistries, and extending battery lifetime, similar improvements are not expected from fossil fuels.

Recycling plays a critical role in reducing the need for new mining because it recovers battery materials and cuts down on emissions associated with producing a new battery. Each electric vehicle requires only a relatively small quantity of battery minerals over its entire lifetime.

In the United States, we estimate that the operational and announced recycling capacity should be sufficient to process end-of-life batteries from BEVs and PHEVs up until 2044. At the same time, advances in battery chemistry are helping to reduce dependence on battery materials. Battery lifetimes can also be extended through reuse and repurposing.

It’s just no contest. When you look at the complete picture—including production and operation—BEVs already produce about 70% fewer emissions than gasoline cars.

That is a three-fold advantage of BEVs over ICEVs and it will grow to four-fold or more in the future as the grid gets cleaner and battery technologies and recycling operations improve. Quite simply, BEVs are a significantly greener transportation option than gasoline cars now and in the long term.

Anh Bui is a Researcher and co-cluster coordinator for the Equity cluster, which aims to identify new opportunities for developing our community engagement practices and expanding our programmatic equity work. After joining the ICCT in 2020 as a fellow, Anh has focused on the U.S. market, and especially on electric vehicle adoption and infrastructure planning for cities. Anh has a B.S. from Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania in Biology and Anthropology and an M.S. from Humboldt State University in Environmental Systems. First published on the ICCT Staff Blog, reproduced with permission.