Complete Headline: Electric cars release MORE toxic emissions than gas-
powered vehicles and are worse for the environment, resurfaced study
warns
• EVs weigh 30 percent more than gas cars, causing tires to wear out faster
• The tire tread releases toxic particles 400 times greater than exhaust
emissions
Electric vehicles may release more pollution than gas-powered vehicles,
according to a report that has recently resurfaced.
The study, which was published in 2022 but has begun circulating again
after being cited in a WSJ op-ed, found that brakes and tires release 1,850
times more particulate matter compared to modern tailpipes which have
filters that reduce emissions.
It found that EVs are 30 percent heavier on average than gas-powered
vehicles, which causes the brakes and tire treads to wear out faster than
standard cars and releases tiny, often toxic particles into the atmosphere.
EV batteries weigh about 1,000 pounds, and can result in tire emissions that
are nearly 400 times more than tailpipe emissions.
Particle pollution can increase health problems including heart disease,
asthma, lung disease and in extreme cases, can lead to hospitalization,
cancer, and premature death.
It comes as California is working to impose a complete ban on all gas
vehicles by 2035.
New gasoline-powered vehicles don’t release the same amount of emissions
as older vehicles, emitting only one percent of all particulate matter (air
pollution) in California, with the majority of emissions coming from older
vehicles.
New gasoline cars are created to be 'cleaner,' by updating the trims of their
internal combustion engines to include particulate filters that reduce
emissions to below 1/1000th of a gram per mile.
The EVs increased weight due to their lithium-ion batteries cause the tire
treads to wear faster, ultimately producing more emissions.
The study, conducted by the firm Emissions Analytics, said the main
difference between tailpipe and tire emissions is that the majority of
particulate emissions released from the tire go directly into the soil and
water, while exhaust negatively affects the air quality.
The effects of tire composition come down to the materials the tire is made
from, the study reported.
Light-duty tires are typically made from synthetic rubber which is developed
using crude oil natural rubber adds fillers and additives, some of which are
recognized carcinogens.
Emissions Analytics tested the tire wear on both EV and gas-powered
vehicles after driving them at least 1,000 miles.
The researchers used a sampling system to collect particles immediately
behind each tire and then measured the size of the particles emitted from
the tread.
It found that the greater the vehicle's mass and weight, the more rapidly the
tire particulate emissions would be released due to the increased torque
between the tires and the road.
A separate 2020 report by the Emissions Analytics firm said that tires are
likely to be a major concern in the coming years as ‘consumers switch to
bigger and heavier cars.’
‘Research shows they contribute to microplastic marine pollution, as well as
air pollution from finer particles,’ the report continued.
The average Hyundai electric vehicle weighs more than 3,700 pounds
compared to the gas-powered alternative which weighs 3,000 pounds.
Meanwhile, Volvo’s EV weighs 4,662 pounds while its gas-powered vehicle
weighs 3,726, but the Ford F150 EV truck comes in at a whopping 6,000
pounds, 2,000 pounds more than the gas option.
California claims that banning gas vehicles would protect public health from
airborne pollutants like dust, dirt and soot, calling EVs ‘zero-emission
vehicles,’ but the heavier weight drastically impacts how quickly tire tread
wears out.
Yet, the state's proposal, submitted by the Air Resources Board, suggested
that tire treads on EVs and gas vehicles wear out at the same rate, which
was criticized by the public, but the state said ‘it would be speculative to
project’ that EVs would not weigh less in the future.
It added that future EV models’ weight could be ‘offset’ with ‘weight
reduction in other components or the vehicle body,’ – although the agency
did not provide examples about how the weight would be reduced.
California has claimed that EVs produce zero emissions because they don’t
have a tailpipe, but that is reportedly misleading, because the substantial
electricity used to power the cars creates additional particulate pollution.
‘Coal tends to be the critical factor,’ Jeremy Michalek, a professor of
engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, told The New York Times.
‘If you’ve got electric cars in Pittsburgh that are being plugged in at night
and leading nearby coal plants to burn more coal to charge them, then the
climate benefits won’t be as great, and you can even get more air pollution.’
Additionally, lithium-ion batteries which power EVs are made of materials
including cobalt and lithium, which have been linked to environmental
concerns.
Mining cobalt emits toxic chemicals and gases that leak into the
environment and extracting metals from the ore emits sulfur oxide and
pollutes the air.
Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated the
national air quality standards with a new rule to reduce the amount of air
pollution.
‘Today's action is a critical step forward that will better protect workers,
families and communities from the dangerous and costly impacts of fine
particle pollution,’ said EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
‘The science is clear, soot pollution is one of the most dangerous forms of
air pollution and it's linked to a range of serious and potentially deadly
illnesses, including asthma and heart attacks.’
EVs are beneficial for the environment because they have no tailpipe
emissions so they produce less greenhouse gases than the average gas-
powered car.
According to the EPA, over an EVs lifetime, the total greenhouse gas
emissions associated with the manufacturing, charging, and driving the
vehicle is typically lower than the standard vehicle.
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