Both to achieve climate protection targets and to reduce dependence on imports of natural gas, oil and coal, motorists should switch from combustion engines to electric drive. For this reason, the state subsidizes the purchase of an electric car with up to 6,000 euros. The question is whether an electric car really does produce zero emissions as claimed.
VW boss changes his mind within four years
VW CEO Herbert Diess, warned against a hasty switch to electric cars as recently as October 2018, saying at the time. “Because the truth is: you’re not converting to electric, you’re converting to coal-fired. And if you then still drive with coal-fired electricity, e-mobility really becomes madness.” Four years later, VW is touting its own e-car models like this. “Even without offsetting remaining CO₂ emissions in manufacturing, the ID. models have a CO₂ advantage over a comparable model with an internal combustion engine.” Audi and Mercedes also make similar arguments, pointing to the alleged zero emissions in their electric cars. Almost all manufacturers advertise their electric vehicles with the “zero emission” argument. This creates the impression that the operation of these vehicles would be completely climate-neutral.
Federal Environment Ministry bases calculations on average electricity mix
The German Federal Ministry for the Environment also supports such statements with corresponding publications. However, they admit that these cars do not run with zero emissions. A corresponding brochure states. “Compared with a particularly economical diesel vehicle, the CO₂ advantage of an electric car is 16 percent, and 27 percent compared with a modern gasoline engine.” The calculations for this are based on the average European electricity mix of 0.226 kilograms of CO per kWh in 2020. Quite apart from the fact that the German electricity mix of 0.446 kg per kWh in 2021 is a good twice as high, the question arises as to whether the average electricity mix is the right value at all.
Scientists doubt calculations
Several renowned scientists now point out that the calculation of CO using the average mix is wrong. The explanation is simple and plausible. When an electric car owner plugs in his vehicle for charging, neither a solar plant nor a wind turbine will generate more electricity. Fossil fuel power plants must then meet the additional demand. This also applies if the vehicle is charged using the owner’s own solar power system. Because this electricity is then no longer available in the grid and must also be compensated by fossil power plants.
Additional demand for electric cars must be covered by fossil power plants
Therefore, when calculating consumption, it is not the average electricity mix that must be used, but the electricity mix of the fossil power plants, which is more than 1 kilogram per kWh. This means that an electric car with a consumption of 20 kWh per 100 kilometers would have CO₂ emissions of 200 grams per kilometer. But that is then a multiple of the permissible fleet consumption of 95 grams per kilometer that has been in force since 2020. At 200 grams per kilometer, an electric car is well above this value and also well above comparable vehicles with internal combustion engines. This does not even take into account the increased CO₂ emissions caused by battery production.
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