Are Electric Vehicles a Solution? Executive Summary

There is presently a massive push in many countries, in the EU, North America and elsewhere, to increase the number of electric vehicles (EVs) and to progressively phase out internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. This massive push relies on massive subsidies, stringent regulations and sometimes protectionist measures, as EVs presently are not cost competitive and are far from offering the same convenience and driving qualities as ICE vehicles, such as long range, rapid fueling time, good affordability, to name just those. Does this massive EV push make sense? Can it be justified? This is what we analyze here. What was already known, yet ignored by policy makers, is that EVs are far from being zero-emission vehicles. They actually generate considerably more emissions for their manufacturing and their massive batteries. There are also very inconvenient implications such as environmental degradations and quasi-slave labor associated with the mining of the massive quantities of minerals needed for the batteries. The analysis also shows that, when compared to the best available ICE vehicles, in terms of fuel efficiency, litres per 100 km, miles per gallon, the EVs actually emit more CO2, not less, than the equivalent ICE vehicles.