Fact: By considering ‘well to wheel’ emissions, we can see the bigger picture.
We calculate well to wheel petrol or diesel vehicle emissions by taking into account the emissions associated with extracting and refining the fuel, transporting to your local fuelling station and finally being burnt within your fuel tank on the road. To allow comparison between your petrol or diesel vehicle and an electric vehicle, we also consider the emissions associated with electricity generation and the conversion to miles within the vehicle.
Let’s look at some figures from a 2017 UK Government study. Well to wheel petrol vehicles produce the highest carbon dioxide emissions at 211g per kilometre, while diesel vehicles emitted 179g. Comparing this to an electric vehicle it was found just 73g of carbon dioxide emissions per kilometre were produced.
Still not convinced? In the UK our electricity supply consists of a number of renewable electricity sources, last year the UK grid saw a 7% increase in renewable electricity. We can expect to see the amount of renewable-generated electricity increase in future, meaning electric vehicles will continue to become less carbon intensive.