Impact of Electricity Mix on the Eco-Friendliness of Electric Vehicles

Many countries have been actively promoting the use of electric vehicles (EVs) to combat climate change and reduce air pollution. However, there are debatable issues regarding their environmental benefits due to the energy sources used to generate electricity. In this study, ten countries with various renewable energy shares were used to evaluate the role of electricity mix on EV adoption in the use phase. Six environmental impact categories were used, namely particulate matter formation, global warming, abiotic depletion (fossil fuels), acidification, human toxicity, and terrestrial toxicity potentials. Results showed that countries dominated by non-renewable energy shares in electricity generation have higher environmental impacts than countries less dependent on fossil fuels. Additionally, countries with a high percentage of electricity from hydropower plants, such as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, have greater environmental benefits than other countries with a high renewable share. Therefore, combining EV adoption with electricity generation dominated by renewable sources, particularly hydro, can lead to a more significant reduction of environmental impacts from the transport sector. Moreover, countries with high dependency on fossil fuels should carefully investigate the consequences of the electrification of transport as it may not have a positive environmental impact.