The role of EVs in sustainable mobility: contribution, limits and future perspectives

1. Cette photo par Auteur inconnu est soumise à la licence CC BY
EVs and
Sustainable
Mobility
Emilia Suomalainen

2. Context: Need for Sustainable Mobility
• Climate change & decarbonisation
• Also air pollution, noise, road accidents, use of (urban) space, peak
oil, “peak everything”, inactive lifestyles, …
• But: increasing mobility demand globally (projections by eg. ITF)
• Environmental but also social and economic issues
• Cf. « yellow vests » movement
• Inequality, access to services

3. Why Transport Decarbonisation Crucial?
1) Transport responsible for around 22% of GHG emissions in Europe
in 2017 (2nd emitter after the power sector)
https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/ghg-emissions-
by-aggregated-sector-5#tab-dashboard-02
2) The only sector in Europe the emissions of which are higher than in
1990
3) A sector very dependent on oil

4. GHG Emissions in Europe
https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/ghg-emissions-by-aggregated-sector-5#tab-dashboard-02

5. Transport GHG Emissions
https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/share-of-transport-ghg-emissions-2#tab-chart_1
https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/share-of-transport-ghg-emissions-2#tab-googlechartid_chart_12

6. Transport Energy Use
IEA Energy Technology Perspectives 2017, https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-technology-perspectives-2017

7. PKT vs. GDP per Capita
https://twitter.com/Sonia_Yeh/status/1333537917973753864/photo/1

8. Oil Dependency of Transport
• IEA: “In 2014, the transport sector consumed 65% of global oil final
energy demand. Moreover, with 92% of transport final energy
demand consisting of oil products, the transport sector is the least
diversified energy end-use sector.”
• https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-technology-perspectives-2017
• IEA WEO 2018: “Global conventional crude oil production peaked in
2008”

9. Decarbonisation a Huge Challenge
Aurélien Bigo 2020, http://www.chair-energy-prosperity.org/publications/travail-de-these-decarboner-transports-dici-2050/

10. Decarbonisation a Huge Challenge
Aurélien Bigo 2020, http://www.chair-energy-prosperity.org/publications/scenarios-decarbonation-transports-2050/

11. Inequality in Transport Energy Use
Oswald et al. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-020-0579-8

12. Inequality in Transport Energy Use
Ivanova and Wood 2020, https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2020.12

13. Status Quo: Car Domination
Aurélien Bigo 2020, http://www.chair-energy-prosperity.org/publications/vitesse-mobilites-france/

14. Are We Headed in the Right Direction?
• Evolution of transport emissions since 1990: increase
• Car ownership: more and more cars
• Car travel: more and more kilometres driven annually
• Weight of cars: globally increasing
• An increasingly popular car of type: SUVs
• Average CO2 emissions of new cars: recent reversal in trend
• Real world emissions: only slight decrease since 2000s
• EV share of fleet remains marginal

15. CO2 Emissions of New Cars
ICCT 2020, https://theicct.org/publications/european-vehicle-market-statistics-20192020

16. The Rise of SUVs
ICCT 2020, https://theicct.org/publications/european-vehicle-market-statistics-20192020

17. Evolution of Vehicle Mass
https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/CO2-reduction-technologies_fact-sheet_10102017_vF.pdf

18. CO2 Emissions in the Lab vs. Real World
Nicolas Meilhan 2019, https://www.strategie.gouv.fr/publications/faire-enfin-baisser-emissions-de-co2-voitures

19. What’s Wrong with Our Car Use?
• A French example (ENTD 2008 and other data sources):
✓ Load factor of vehicles: 1.4 (for driver: 1.22)
✓ 73% of local trips by car are made with only the driver onboard
✓ A car weighs around 1500 kg – to transport a passenger of 80 kg
✓ A light-duty vehicle is used on average 5h37 per week or 3.4% of the
time
✓ The kilometres travelled per car are decreasing – but the number of
cars continues to increase
https://www.statistiques.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/la-mobilite-des-francais-panorama-issu-de-lenquete-nationale-
transports-et-deplacements-2008

20. Long-Distance vs. Everyday Mobility
Emilia Suomalainen, Vedecom. Source de données : ENTD 2008

21. How to Meet The
Challenge?
• Challenges: climate change,
other environmental issues,
inequality, …
• Solution: sustainable mobility
• The role of electric vehicles
(EVs)?
By Bartz/Stockmar, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69505744

22. EV (R)Evolution
IEA Global EV Outlook 2020, https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2020

23. Importance of EV Charging Infrastructure
• 3 main barriers cited by potential EV buyers:
1) High purchase price
2) Limited autonomy
3) Lack of charging infrastructure
• Building an adequate charging infrastructure addresses these three
concerns!

24. But: Zero Emission Vehicles Do Not Exist
Carbone 4 2020, http://www.carbone4.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Motorisations-alternatives-publication-Carbone-4.pdf

25. But: Zero Emission Vehicles Do Not Exist
ICCT 2018, https://theicct.org/publications/EV-battery-manufacturing-emissions

26. But: Zero Emission Vehicles Do Not Exist
IEA Global EV Outlook 2019, https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2019

27. EVs on Long-Distance Trips
• Long-distance trips particularly problematic for EVs:
• Long charging time
• Availability of chargers, queues, technical issues
• Roaming
• Stress and inconvenience of users
• Potential solution: electric road systems (ERS)
• User confort
• Environmental benefit: smaller battery size

28. EVs on Long-Distance Trips

29. Synergies Between EVs and Renewables
Cette photo par Auteur inconnu est soumise à la licence CC BY
Cette photo par Auteur inconnu est soumise à la licence
CC BY-SA-NC

30. Use of EVs for Energy Services
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338287744_Vehicle-to-
Everything_V2X_energy_services_value_streams_and_regulatory_policy_implications

31. Limits of EVs
• EVs are not enough, we also need:
✓Renewable/low-carbon electricity to power them
✓Decrease emissions from manufacturing phase
✓Optimise usage
✓Limit battery size
✓Limit vehicle size/weight
• Also, EVs may have limited impacts on particle emissions (urban air quality)
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/non-exhaust-particulate-
emissions-from-road-transport_4a4dc6ca-en

32. What Can Be Done?
• Invest in infrastructure for sustainable personal mobility
• Eg. charging infrastructure, renewable/low-carbon energy, …
• Improve efficiency also for ICEVs
• Fleet renewal takes a long time
• Explore alternatives to current car-based mobility
• Eg. active mobility but sharing (ridesharing, car sharing), train for long-
distance trips
• Behavioural changes: travel less but better?
• Especially for high-energy users

33. Hierarchy: Avoid > Shift > Improve
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330079325_Transport_and_Climate_Change_2018_-_Global_Status_Report/figures

34. Travel Demand vs. GDP
Aurélien Bigo 2020, http://www.chair-energy-prosperity.org/publications/travail-de-these-decarboner-transports-dici-2050/

35. Passenger Transport and GDP
https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/trends-in-passenger-transport-demand-7#tab-chart_1

36. Freight Transport and GDP
https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/freight-transport-volumes-and-gdp-7#tab-chart_4

37. Decarbonisation Scenarios
Brand et al. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111334
lifestyle
changes

38. Conclusion
• Challenge: speed and scale of the decarbonisation required
• ~Net zero emissions by 2050
• Important synergies with other environmental issues (LAQ, …)
• EVs not enough => a paradigm change needed
• Is it possible to reconcile growing demand and decreasing impacts?
• But: the developing world needs a bigger slice
• Beware of technology fixes, myths and silver bullets
• Also behavioural/organisational/societal changes needed

39. Reading and Watching Tips
• Work by Prof. Jillian Anable, Leeds and colleagues, eg. Rearranging elephants on the
Titanic
• Work by Prof. Julia Steinberger and colleagues, eg.
• Scientists’ warning on affluence
• Large inequality in international and intranational energy footprints between income groups and
across consumption categories
• Providing decent living with minimum energy: A global scenario
• The political economy of car dependence: A systems of provision approach
• Discourses of climate delay
• Your money or your life? The carbon-development paradox
• Youtube talks by Prof. Kevin Anderson, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
• Teachings by J-M Jancovici (in French):
https://slides.pimoid.fr/jancovici/mines_2019/

40. Blogs and Media
• https://fr.forumviesmobiles.org/2021/01/25/pas-tout-suite-pas-tout-
seul-12-discours-procrastination-climatique
• https://theconversation.com/malus-poids-emissions-de-co-
interessons-nous-enfin-aux-vehicules-intermediaires-148650
• https://theecologist.org/2020/nov/24/solution-problem
• https://decarbon8.org.uk/greening-the-ev-transition/
• https://ukerc.ac.uk/news/road-to-zero-or-road-to-nowhere/
• https://www.creds.ac.uk/a-new-green-shovel-options-for-the-
transport-stimulus-package/

41. Thank you
for your
attention!
emilia.suomalainen@gmail.com
Cette photo par Auteur inconnu est soumise à la licence CC BY-NC-ND