We knew petrol SUVs polluted more than electric cars, but did you know it was this much more? Dieselgate discovery team's new study releases lifetime emissions results for hybrids, electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and ICE cars and SUVs

A new independent study into vehicle emissions has found that vehicles with combustion engines are almost seven times more polluting than electric cars

The study was conducted by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), the same non-government organisation that in 2013 discovered Volkswagen had installed emissions defeat devices in diesel vehicles resulting in the ‘Dieselgate’ scandal. 

In this new study, the ICCT noted that while it's obvious battery electric vehicles (BEV) have no actual exhaust emissions other factors that contribute to greenhouse gases (GHG) over the life cycle of the vehicle, such as the manufacturing of the vehicle and the battery, need to be included along with the energy used during the operation of the vehicle.

The study focussed on sedans and SUVs in the United States with internal combustion engines (ICE), hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) as well as BEVs. The study looked at both charging BEVs with regular power from the grid (non-renewable) and from 100 per cent renewable sources.

Not surprisingly, ICE vehicles were found to have the highest life-cycle GHG emissions with ICE SUVs producing 3.5 times more GHG emissions than BEVs using regular grid electricity, jumping to 6.7 times more if BEVs were recharged with electricity from renewable sources.

PHEVs were found to be roughly two times higher compared to BEVs, while HEVs emit 2.2 times more (sedans) and 2.5 times more (SUVs) than BEVs.

A common criticism of electric vehicles is the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. The study revealed that the production of the battery created more emissions than the production of the vehicle itself which includes the mechanical components such as the chassis.

But — and it’s a significant but — running a BEV “paid off”, or cancelled out, the emissions from battery and vehicle manufacturing at the 24,500km mark when charged with 100 percent renewable electricity, whereas ICE vehicle emissions only keep adding up over the entire use of the vehicle. You can view the full ICCT study here.

In Australia electric vehicle uptake is growing fast. Up until the end of July 2024 23,671 new EVs were registered, up by 107.9 percent compared to last year’s this time.

Add to this the 27,154 HEVs and 490 PHEVs also registered up to the end of last month and you have a total 51,315 new hybrids and EVs on the road. To put that in context, the number of petrol ICE vehicles registered in the same period was 73,481 and that represents a 13.4 percent fall on last year’s numbers.

Toyota sells the most hybrid vehicles in Australia including the RAV4, Camry and Kluger, with the company confirming in June this year that all models (except for GR, ute and LandCruiser) would go fully-hybrid.

The rise of brands such as Tesla, which only sells BEVs, has ushered in a new era of electric cars in Australia and opened the way for more affordable makes such as MG with its MG4 and unfamiliar brands such as BYD with the Atto 3 and Seal.