Green NCAP: “Electric cars are too heavy”

Starting in 2019, Green NCAP examines the total environmental impact of various cars throughout their lifetime. Calculations are based on the average energy mix of the 27 EU member states and the UK and an average mileage of 240,000 km over 16 years.

It contains A recent study A total of 34 cars are included, seven of which are fully electric: Dacia Spring, Tesla Model 3, Renault Megane e-Tech, Cupra Born, Ioniq 5, Neo ED7 and Audi Q e-tron.

Four of the cars in the survey were mild or plug-in hybrids, while the rest ran on gasoline, diesel or E85.

The results show that the total emissions of those with an electric drive are 40 to 50 percent lower than those of cars with a combustion engine. The Dacia Spring has the lowest emissions, with its compact battery of 28.3 kWh having the lowest emissions during battery production.

It is clear that the battery is responsible for a lot of emissions in the Nio ET7 model which had the largest battery at 100 kWh and the model with the highest emissions.

According to Green NCAP, all cars suffer from the same problem regardless of powertrain. They are very heavy.

“However, the overall message is clear – the heavier a vehicle, the more damaging it is to the environment and the more energy it takes to drive,” Green writes in the NCAP report.

Last year, four million small SUVs were sold in Europe, making it the best-selling car category. At the same time, sales of large SUVs have increased sevenfold over the past ten years. Together, the average weight of cars increased by 9 per cent over the same period, according to Green NCAP.

The Green NCAP report underlines that electric vehicles cause lower greenhouse gas emissions, but “part of the gain is lost due to increased weight”. To change that, Green NCAP calls on both manufacturers and consumers to change their behaviour.

– Electric cars and electrification have great potential to reduce greenhouse gases, but the increasing trend of heavy vehicles reduces this opportunity. To counter this, Green NCAP is urging manufacturers to reduce the weight of their products and consumers to make purchasing decisions taking into account not only the powertrain of their new cars, but also their weight, says Alexander Tamianov, Green NCAP’s technical director. .