The drive to make electric vehicles more environmentally friendly

Enthusiasm for the future of sustainable transport is encouraging, but won't the increased weight of this electric vehicle disrupt this progress?

Read below to find out what this means for the environment, safety and solutions manufacturers are looking for.

A lighter car produces less waste

Researchers regularly prove that electric vehicles are more environmentally friendly than gasoline vehicles due to their carbon footprint (more specifically, the carbon they emit).

In 2021, the Wall Street Journal partnered with researchers at the University of Toronto to study the emissions of electric vehicles compared to gasoline vehicles. They found that if the U.S. fails to replace gasoline cars and import more electric vehicles, by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline cars will reach nearly 50.

However, they also found that Tesla produces more emissions (64%) during the production of the Tesla Model 3 (their research vehicle) due to the metal required for the lithium-ion battery (not equivalent, but not the same as with conventional batteries).

In addition to this, researchers such as Lisa Selley at the University of Cambridge have found that 55% of circulating pollution consists of exhaust particles such as brake dust and tire wear. He goes on to say that heavier vehicles make a significant contribution.

Selly helps to show that in some ways viewers need to take off the rose-colored glasses they've put on the sustainability of electric vehicles and consider that in addition to carbon emissions.

Safety issues with heavy vehicles

In addition to polluting the environment, the heaviest vehicles are also more dangerous on the road when they get into an accident. For example, the GMC Hummer EV weighs over 9,000 kg. This is three times more than the Honda Civic.

CNN business writer Peter Valdes-Dapena, in an article published in 2021, argues that when two moving objects collide, the heavier one moves in the direction it was moving.

SUVs and EV trucks have longer range and better CO2 emissions, but they are more dangerous on the road.

Possible Solutions

Nature, an international peer-reviewed science and technology journal, has outlined solutions to better address the weight of electric vehicles, such as taxing heavier vehicles and encouraging drivers to opt for lighter alternatives.

She also tested smaller batteries with lower energy densities and suggested using more silicon than standard graphite for the anodes to remove heavier components. Likewise, lighter batteries can support them in response to lighter frames.

However, it is important to note that the cost of electric vehicles may continue to rise as technology improves.

Finding solutions will require extensive research, but manufacturers such as Tesla, Volvo and GM are refining ways to overcome these hurdles, such as using batteries to support a car's chassis. Ultimately, the chassis of a car could be an energy storage solution.