Spoiler: no. For example, a car, even an electric one, is by definition an object that has to be manufactured and then supplied with energy, so cars and transport in general will never be 100% eco-friendly. But solutions do exist to reduce the environmental impact of cars as much as possible.
While the electric motor is a prerequisite for the ‘green’ car, there are other solutions at the design stage, as well as in use, that would enable the car to reduce its impact on the planet even further. ECO MOTORS NEWS spoke to Aurélien Bigo, an independent researcher, member of the Energy and Prosperity Chair and former ADEME employee, whose thesis dealt with the subject of transport and the challenge of the energy transition. The right person to enlighten us on the subject.
Greening the car from the design stage
Even before it leaves the factory, a car has already polluted enormously. This is especially true of electric cars. Although they pollute much less than internal combustion engines during their life cycle, their manufacture has a much greater negative impact, so they have to make up for their carbon debt over the kilometres (around 30,000 kilometres). But there are some good habits to adopt at the design stage that could help reduce this gap.
First, there’s the question of weight. According to Aurélien Bigo, « the lighter a vehicle is, the fewer emissions it generates, and the smaller its battery can be, which limits its impact« . The researcher therefore recommends that « batteries should be sized according to the range required for everyday journeys rather than very long distances » in order to reduce their size and the use of resources needed to manufacture them. In the same vein, it will be necessary to optimise batteries in order to reduce the quantity of materials required per kWh.
Aurélien Bigo also points out that it is essential to extend the lifespan of vehicles, in particular through repairs, but also « by maintaining use despite the gradual decline in battery capacity« . Making a car last is essential because, in France, electricity is already low in carbon, so, as the researcher explains, « the main impact of a car comes from its manufacture, and it must be amortised over as long a period as possible« .
While the manufacture of an electric car is the first thing we think of when we talk about its environmental impact, we also need to consider the question of recharging. At the design stage, it may be worthwhile to democratise the integration of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and vehicle-to-home (V2H) technologies, which allow the car to return energy to the grid or act as a generator for the home, respectively. Over and above the savings made by the owner, this also helps to limit stress on the grid and limit consumption.
The five levers of the National Low Carbon Strategy
Aurélien Bigo outlines the five levers identified by the National Low Carbon Strategy(SNBC) to reduce the environmental impact of transport. And because things are well done, they are listed in ascending order of difficulty of implementation.
The first is simply to drive less. This means reducing the number of kilometres travelled on a daily basis, by increasing the availability of public transport, but also « by bringing the places where people live, work and receive services closer together« .
Then there is the modal shift: giving priority to walking, cycling and public transport. While Aurélien Bigo acknowledges that this lever is easier to activate « in dense areas than in rural areas« , he is not losing hope in the development of soft mobility in rural areas. The development of car-sharing, another of the five levers, could also be a step in this direction.
The fourth lever directly concerns ECO MOTORS NEWS, since it involves improving energy efficiency through more fuel-efficient vehicles and the electrification of the vehicle fleet. Finally, the fifth is quite simply to decarbonise energy, by replacing oil with less carbon-intensive energies, including electricity.
According to Aurélien Bigo, these levers are complementary: « some require more social and territorial transformations, but offer the greatest reductions in emissions. Others require fewer changes to lifestyles, but reduce the overall impact less significantly ». The key, then, is to strike the right balance in order to achieve the goal of truly environmentally-friendly mobility.
