Are EVs as Environment Friendly as they are Claimed to be Electric vehicles have been called sustainable and more eco friendly as compared to diesel or hybrid vehicles. Are they actually reducing the carbon footprint from the vehicles

Electric vehicles are the future of the automobile industry. With the rising levels of pollution, the electric revolution is gaining momentum with technological innovation and growing consciousness towards environment protection. Governments around the globe have stepped up their policies and innovation in technology to align themselves more in line with the procurement and deployment of electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles are recommended for a number of reasons in which they are sustainable for the environment. They don't emit climate damaging greenhouse gases, are quiet and easy to operate and have a lot of advantages over vehicles that run on petrol and diesel. Lately EVs have been criticized for not being as eco friendly as they are claimed to be. Here are some reasons how electric vehicles are doing more harm than good to the environment.

Battery Production and Disposal

Electric vehicles are powered by batteries instead of gasoline or diesel. The batteries used in the cars are manufactured using certain elements from the earth and the extraction and manipulation of these elements can contribute to carbon emissions. Ishaan Khosla, co-founder of Huddle said, "There has been an active push towards battery level innovations. Lithium ion batteries have been analyzed as more effective solution compared to much in demand lead acid batteries".

Battery disposal is another huge problem which also contain toxic chemicals inside them and very harmful for the environment. Some experts say they can be recycled to make them useful for other purposes. There is no proper infrastructure for the disposal and recycling of these batteries or e-waste.

Production of Electricity

Many researchers and experts have argued that most of the electricity is produced by burning fuels and in this manner the emission made by electric vehicles is similar to the vehicle that runs on diesel. Places where coal generates the electric power there electric vehicles is not helping the environment because their carbon footprint becomes the same as petrol driven car. Electric cars often need entire night to recharge and thus the amount of emissions for the production of electricity increases. Khosla argues that "there has been an active push towards adoption of renewable energy to fuel the needs of EVs segment".

Battery Life

Battery life is another major factor for electric vehicles as they tend to exhaust faster. It also depends on factors such as climate, temperature infrastructure among others. In colder areas the battery will exhaust faster and need to be recharged at frequent intervals. Also fast charging your electric vehicle will severely affect the life and performance of the battery. The guarantee of all the electric vehicles to be charged by wind or solar energy is still not available.

Electric vehicles are far less pollution inducing as compared to a conventional diesel vehicle. The emissions and carbon footprint of electric vehicles becomes more when it uses up the electricity generated by fossil fuels. There should be more renewable ways of generating electricity and in more percentage than coals. Electric vehicles have the capacity to reduce greenhouse gases emission if combined with proper deployment of renewable resources and reducing the carbon footprint from electricity generation.