for the busy.

We know you’re busy so here is the gist of it:

• the auto industry has experienced government support and pressure for change before

• not everyone is convinced with electric vehicles, mainly because of the lack of infrastructure, price, and reliability

• the materials required and source of electricity set back electric vehicles a lot

• Toyota seems to be coming from a more logical angle on the matter

• focus should be allocated appropriately

we have been here before.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Europe experienced a diesel craze. Governments embraced policies that championed diesel, and consumers embraced the promise of fuel-efficient engines and reduced CO₂ emissions. Diesel vehicles took over the streets, comprising more than 50% of new car sales in countries like France and Germany during the early 2000s.

In France, diesel vehicles were rewarded with tax incentives and lower fuel prices. However, as automakers began to acknowledge the changing landscape, studies conducted by organizations like the World Health Organization shed light on the health hazards linked to exposure to diesel exhaust.

Subsequently, governments executed a U-turn, introducing progressively stricter limits on nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter emissions from diesel vehicles. This shift was prompted by research indicating that diesel cars were significant contributors to NOx emissions. The automotive industry found itself navigating through challenging terrain.

It’s tough to be in the car business.

the ev movement.

There are countless articles discussing the pros and cons of EVs, so we won’t bore you with that and just highlight the list if you never bothered looking into it.

• Range

• Maintaining a charge over the years

• Batteries and extreme weather conditions don’t mix

• People don’t like governments telling them what to buy

• Vehicles are one of the most expensive purchases people make

• Prices have been on the decline, but with the average EV you will still be paying luxury prices for an average vehicle

• The auto manufacturers may be moving too fast for the infrastructure required

• Slow charging times

EVs have had their fair share of time in the sun. So what do people think of them? 

Well according to this Cox Automotive Study, 53% of consumers feel EVs are the future and will largely replace gas engines over time, compared to only 31% of dealers.

So just over half of consumers are convinced and only a third of car dealers.

Car dealers. 

The men and women on the front line who are selling the vehicles to people are not convinced yet. The article notes that EV inventories continue to climb and sit on the lot longer than their ICE counterparts.

We should note that the 51% stat we just there out there was 2022 data and is dramatic increase from 2021 data, which was 38%.

So on that note, what were the biggest hurdles for consumers?👇

tesla is crushing it.

Tesla sales are dominating the EV market right now because they are addressing two of the three main points noted by consumers. 

1. They are the first to offer a reasonably priced option with their Model 3

2. They put the time and money in to build out a vast charging infrastructure

The Cox Automotive report was based on US consumers and surely the European market would not be nearly concerned about the lack of charging stations because Tesla has been a huge benefactor from the European Union’s hunger for EVs and opened their Supercharging stations to non-Tesla drivers. 

At the end of the day, Tesla is a business and opening the stations to non-Tesla drivers actually reduces costs and makes the network more profitable. Just recently, it was announced that Tesla will receive ~$150M (€148.7M) to install and replace 7,198 charging points in 22 countries.  

But if you compare the Superchargers available to non-Tesla drivers in Europe 👆 vs the US 👇, it is drastically different. That is why Tesla is currently destroying the EV market, especially in the United States. 

But enough talk about Tesla. Let’s talk about others in the industry. 

the volvo report.

As you can imagine, EVs are causing a lot of controversy with people having mixed opinions on the matter and more importantly, people do not like governments telling them what they can and cannot buy. 

Volvo came out with a report that further fueled controversy. It was a report that people could point to and caused die-hard EV lovers to defend vigorously. With the company’s ambitious goal of committing to only sell fully electric cars by 2030, this goal required some research. 

With the goal of eliminating CO₂ emissions, you need to think about the life-cycle assessment (LCA), and just how vehicles are impacting the environment from cradle to grave. With that, you need to consider where the electricity is coming from to power the vehicle and the materials used to make it. 

We are going to show you some graphs and charts from the report. But to understand them, this will help. 

As you can see, in the chart above, with the current global and EU-28 electricity mix, the data shows there is not a significant difference in CO₂ emissions of the XC40 (ICE) and the C40 (EV).

Well, 15% less on a global scale and 28.81% less in Europe. But be honest.

When you thought of an EV. Didn’t you think after 200,000km (124,274 miles) it would have more than 30% in emission reductions?

Even when factoring in a scenario that is solely wind-powered, reducing the materials involved in producing and refining the vehicle and the Li-ion batteries needs to be addressed. These cannot be entirely eliminated.

But what caused all the upturn when the Daily Mail commented on this report was this chart here 👆. It shows the kilometres that their EV would have to drive before it broke even on CO₂ emissions with its ICE counterpart.

Because of the battery materials and processing required, the ICE vehicles have a huge headstart.

Even in the ideal scenario of all wind-powered electricity, the EV would have to drive 49,000km (30,447 miles) before being more efficient in GHG emissions. With it more realistically being 77,000km (47,484 miles) considering the current state of the EU energy grid. Factoring in the global electricity mix is even more bleak.

Another thing to consider is that this is Volvo’s report specific to their vehicles, but it is a great starting point and proves that EVs are not without environmental impact.

But hey, you’re only looking at one study from one company. 

Fair, let’s talk about another company that caused some controversy from its customers and the public. Some praised them for their stance and others shunned them. 

not afraid to be an independent thinker.

Toyota is not so convinced about this EV shift and committing to a fully EV fleet of vehicles. At least not with the current battery technology out there. They are actually more in favour of hybrid vehicles. 

On their website, at the time of writing, they have this great image displaying that EVs are very material intensive and if carbon-emission reduction is the true goal, hybrids should be a part of the conversation.

Emissions are only part of the conversation, but considering our planet’s resources is a wise thing to do. In this example specifically, the same amount of battery resources used to produce one Battery EV (BEV) can produce 90 Hybrid EVs!  Those resources could reduce carbon emissions by 130 tons as opposed to their BEV counterpart of 3.7. 

Although they have received some harsh criticism lately, Toyota is not opposed to EVs completely.

They have been working hard on solid-state batteries and just recently announced that they aim to mass-produce by 2027-2028. That is very ambitious but would be revolutionary in the battery market. 

with pressure comes change.

For those of you not completely engrained in the battery space. Solid-state batteries are a big deal. 

As the name implies, they are solid, which means a safer and more stable performance. On top of safer vehicles, they are anticipated to have a farther range (1,000km) and just as important for a vehicle, a fast charge time. We are talking about 10 minutes to reach an 80 percent charge.

For context, Tesla’s Superchargers are the fastest way to charge an EV out there today and at the time of writing, they claim a 15-minute charge will get you up to 200 miles (321.8km).   

The technology is already there though for solid-state batteries. It is not a question of if, but when.

The difficulty in solid-state batteries is in the assembly process when manufacturing at scale. It can be costly as you need to layer cathode-anode cells quickly and with high precision. 

Even with this revolutionary technology, the resources required for EVs are still an issue. It also begs the question if transportation should be the main issue on the government’s radar. 

is this making a difference.

As you can see from the chart above, road transportation contributed to about 12% of the world’s GHG in 2016. Going back to the Volvo Report, if you take the time to read it you will see steel and aluminum processing is a big contributor to EVs. Here you can see iron & steel use 7.2%. 

So is this just all perception? Focus on eliminating at the consumer level and increasing the energy high up the supply chain. Why not heavier emphasis on optimizing energy use in commercial and residential buildings?

Trying to maintain a balanced article here, focusing on EVs would help with air quality in heavily condensed areas and they have their place. But then there are places like rural Canada which owning solely an EV would frankly be absurd.

will logic prevail.

If you refer to the global CO₂ emissions by country, you should ask yourself and challenge your government if an EV focus deserves such emphasis.

For example, should Canadians be forced to use an electric vehicle given the fact that on a global scale, they are small contributors to overall global emissions?

Thanks to renewables like hydropower, the country is actually very low emitters. Now if you look at the average Canadian, relatively speaking they do have a high carbon footprint but it is for good reason. 

The country is massive and even within city limits, the commutes can be far. Generally speaking, the overall transit system does not cater to cyclists and pedestrians as Europe does. And when it is the middle of winter and extreme weather conditions, most households want a reliable vehicle. Canada is more than just Toronto and Vancouver and a household vehicle is practically essential in many parts of the country.

Circling back to the top of the article, batteries hate extreme weather conditions and you need reliability. Exposure to -40C weather can definitely hurt a battery life and affect the vehicle’s range.

So should Canadians own two cars? One EV for the summer and an ICE for the winter? After ~49 thousand kilometres, conservatively, will they start making a difference? Or is a hybrid the logical option? 

Referring back to the Cox Automotive report, the main reason people are considering EVs is for fuel savings. Canadians may freely transition to electric vehicles for that reason alone, but should the government impose heavier taxes on gasoline consumption to accelerate people to purchase an EV?

why are we really doing this.

The optics of all this matter is complicated. China is clearly the largest emitter. They do have a lot of coal power plants. But at the same time, they are aggressively moving forward on solar and EV adoption.

They also produce a large percentage of the world’s goods and have a massive economy. Common sense, open dialogue, and impactful changes need to prevail if the true goal is emission reduction. 

So are EVs a move in the right direction? Yes, if you power them accordingly. But at the end of the day, a car consists of many parts that are not created from thin air.

will the automotive industry take another u-turn.

We hope you gained value from this article and it left you pondering what are the true goals for governments around the world and if they have stopped and actually took the time to look. 

At the very least, we helped arm you for the next time you find yourself in a discussion about the mass EV adoption taking place. 

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