Are EV's truly the best car for our planet?

Intro

So this is less of an expertly formed opinion piece (watch this space for insight from industry experts soon), but rather my personal top level pragmatic look at what truly is the best vehicle for our environment as at the mid point of 2025.

Firstly, I believe the best use of resources already expended from our environment (in this case taking the form of vehicles already on the road) would be for a technological leap forward in a conversion option of exsisting ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles.

Saving the vast majority of vechiles currently on the road from being heaped, or recycled for their parts (using more resources to process), would be the best result for our environment.

With regards to emissions once they hit the road, electric vehicles are obviously amazing as they have ZERO emissions... but wouldn't it be nice to continue the life of the majority of vehicles on the road (ICE vehicles) AND have them converted to zero emissions whilst in operation?

We are not there yet, but I do believe (and hope) a technological solution to solve this problem can present itself in the very near future.

The Analysis

So with the options currently in front of us being full electric, internal combustion engine (traditional ICE fuel burning) and hybrid (a mix of both technologies)... which is the most environmentally friendly option when viewed through the lens of the hard data around Carbon Emissions for the life of the vehicle.

To simplify the analysis, I've omitted the carbon emissions produced by the production of the energy source electricity and/or petroleum based fuels given the variety of different options for both.

I have then applied the following assumptions:

• Vehicles in analysis: 
  • Standard ICE vehicle: 2024 Toyota Hilux 4x4 Diesel
  • Hybrid vehicle: 2021 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid
  • Electric Vehicle: 2023 Tesla Model Y Rear wheel drive
• CO2 emmissions g/km:
  • ICE: 189 g/km
  • Hybrid: 110 g/km
  • EV: 0g/km
• Production Emissions (Tonnes of CO2):
  
  • ICE: 5.6
  • Hybrid: 6.5
  • EV: 8.8
• "Life" of vehicle per data = 150,000kms

The results below are as expected:

However a report by Ricardo (a leading global provider of product innovation, engineering solutiuons, clean tech and strategiv consulting) analysed the whole life carbon emission that includes the emissions from the input fuel... with a surprising outcome.

Note that their assumptions for the operational emissions were based on 2015 vehicles driving 150,000kms and using 10% ethanol blend petroleum fuel and 500g/kwm grid electricity.

RESULTS: A few key takeaways and comments:

• Surprisingly the Ricardo report puts the Plug-in Hybrid the best, Hyrbid second, EV third and ICE not as far from the EV as I would have thought
•  There is a big difference between the results of the Ricardo report and my calculations, which illustrates fuel input plays a HUGE role in determining the most sustainable vehicle... if you 100% charge your EV from solar then it is an absolute runaway victor, however if you use coal powered grid energy then its actually not the most sustainable vehicle according to their inputs
• We are only considering CO2 emmissions in this comparison... a HUGE point to make given that the manufacturing process of all vehicles doesnt only harm the environment with carbon emmissions produced, but also damage to water/marine ecosystems and the communities engaged in the supply chain of all inputs to each vehicle

Final thought: The answer to the title of this article is... YES (but with a caveat... the charging must be done by renewable energy sources exclusively for this to be a correct statement).

The information in this article was a top level analysis done by me, a non industry expert, for the benefits of analysing my own purchasing decision of which vehicle is best for the environment..

So with the "clear as mud" outcome, my next step is to report back ASAP with an article produced by experts who review not just the carbon emissions but the entire envrionmental effects of each option.