We Have More Bad News About Electric Cars
A resurfaced study claims electric vehicles release more toxic particles than gas-powered vehicles, disputing the mainstream climate change narrative.
The study, published in 2022 by emissions data firm Emission Analytics, says tire wear emissions from electric vehicles are 1,850 times greater than modern tailpipe emissions in gas-powered cars.
Electric vehicles release more toxic emissions, are worse for the environment than gas-powered cars: study https://t.co/1m4uQO6Q44 pic.twitter.com/W9dajIqyg5
— New York Post (@nypost) March 5, 2024
“The fundamental trends that drive this ratio are: tailpipe particulate emissions are much lower on new cars, and tire wear emissions increase with vehicle mass and aggressiveness of driving style. Tailpipe emissions are falling over time, as exhaust filters become more efficient and with the prospect of extending the measurement of particulates under the potential future Euro 7 regulation, while tire wear emissions are rising as vehicles become heavier and added power and torque is placed at the driver’s disposal,” Emissions Analytics writes.
“Quite remarkably, but as testament to the filtration efficiency of the latest gasoline particulate filters (GPFs), tailpipe mass emissions are now as low as 0.02 mg/km. Gasoline vehicles were tested as they represent the majority of new passenger cars sold today. Therefore, the mass wear from new tires is 16 times greater than the maximum permitted from the tailpipe, but 3,650 times greater than actual tailpipe emissions. Taking the full-life average tire emissions, that premium falls to the 1,850 times mentioned earlier. The excess emissions under aggressive driving should alert us to a risk with BEVs: greater vehicle mass and torque delivered can lead to rapidly increasing tire particulate emissions. Half a tonne of battery weight can result in tire emissions that are almost 400 more times greater than real-world tailpipe emissions, everything else being equal,” the firm noted.
The New York Post reports:
Today, most vehicle-related pollution comes from tire wear.
As heavy cars drive on light-duty tires — most often made with synthetic rubber made from crude oil and other fillers and additives — they deteriorate and release harmful chemicals into the air, according to Emission Analytics.
Because EVs are on average 30% heavier, brakes and tires on the battery-powered cars wear out faster than on standard cars.
Emission Analytics found that tire wear emissions on half a metric tonne of battery weight in an EV are more than 400 times as great as direct exhaust particulate emissions.
For reference, half a metric tonne is equivalent to roughly 1,100 pounds. The most popular EV in the US, Tesla’s Model Y, boasts a lithium-ion battery that weighs in at a hefty 1,836 pounds.
Electric cars release more toxic emissions than gas-powered vehicles.
EV tire tread releases toxic particles 400 times GREATER than exhaust emissions.
The only thing that’s green about electric vehicles is the cost. pic.twitter.com/CZkv0xkP8l
— Daniel Turner (@DanielTurnerPTF) March 4, 2024
Another sought-after electric model, Ford’s F-150 Lightning pickup truck, also has an approximately 1,800-pound battery.
From Daily Mail:
Hesham Rakha, a professor at Virginia Tech told Dailymail.com that the study is only ‘partially correct’ because even though EVs are heavier, their tyres will emit more microplastics into the air, but this could also be true for sedans versus SUVs.
Rakha said it is very challenging to determine the difference between the amount of microplastics emitted from EV tyre treads and petrol-powered vehicles because you have to separate the microplastics that are already in the air from other sources with what’s coming off the tyres.
Rakha and his team at Virginia Tech are in the process of conducting field tests to determine how much microplastics are emitting from EV and petrol cars by using traffic simulators that will mimic an urban setting.
He added that he doesn’t expect there to be a major difference between the EV and petrol-powered vehicles, saying that they haven’t measured it yet, but expect the difference to be about 20 percent.
This doesn’t mean that people should gravitate away from electric cars because they ‘are more efficient depending zero emission,’ Rakha said, but added the caveat that ‘it also generates a lot of CO2 when charging your vehicle.’
EV batteries weigh about 453kg, and can result in tire emissions that are nearly 400 times more than exhaust pipe emissions.
Particle pollution can increase health problems including heart disease, asthma, lung disease and in extreme cases, can lead to hospitalisation, cancer, and premature death.
New petrol-powered cars are created to be ‘cleaner,’ by updating the trims of their internal combustion engines to include particulate filters that reduce emissions.
The EVs increased weight due to their lithium-ion batteries cause the tyre treads to wear faster, ultimately producing more emissions.
