ELECTRIC VEHICLE SUSTAINABILITY –
ARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES SUSTAINABLE?
Are electric vehicles greener? The short answer is yes — but their full green potential is still many years away.
As electric cars become more popular, some question if they are as environmentally-friendly as advertised — with some saying that greenhouse emissions during the manufacturing process and battery-charging have to be considered.
In Australia, one of the biggest issues is the way in which your electricity is generated, depending on your location. Obviously generating electricity with coal isn’t ideal for the environment, which is why we encourage all our customers to install the latest charging technology and connect to solar or wind for the ideal solution.
The number of electric cars, buses, vans and heavy trucks on our roads is expected to hit 145 million by 2030 across the world, the International Energy Agency predicts. If these are all new vehicles, then you also have to look at the production emissions and waste from discarding the old cars, some of which are too cool to send to landfill.
This is where Australian EVS offers the perfect solutions for upcycling your old classic cars, such as VW Kombis, Beetles, Ford Mustangs, Toyota FJ40s and Porsches to name just a few.
THE TRANSITION TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES
By 2035, Australia expects that 100% of all new vehicles sold will be electric. However, as we are a technology taker, we may get there much sooner as market forces accelerate and ICEVs are no longer imported by the major manufacturers.
The average age of cars in Australia is currently 10.4 years and over 15 years for commercial vehicles, so with over 20 million registered light vehicles in Australia, it would take us to 2050 before existing fleets are replaced naturally.
However, with EV technology improving rapidly and costs continuing to reduce, we expect there will be a large demand for converting some existing vehicles to EV rather than simply waiting to replace them.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
The world is seeing a rapid change to EVs as manufacturers release more and more exciting models with real-life performance. Governments are increasingly pushing for higher EV targets too, with Norway targeting 2025, Germany, UK and others looking to 2030, whilst the US says that 50% of all vehicles sold will be electric by 2030. Australia is currently expecting that all new light vehicles sold by 2035 will be electric, however this may be accelerated with new zero-emission targets.
In 2023, the global sales of Electric Vehicles rose by 36% to over 14 million. This year 18% of all cars sold worldwide were electric, whilst petrol and diesel sales dropped.
In these other markets, there has also been a sharp rise in the number of EV conversions that we expect to see in Australia too, as people look to give new life to their old classic cars and take advantage of the Government incentives too.
Ever thought of driving a cool Beetle with the performance of a Tesla?