What powers the EV?
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It must, however, be considered what kind of energy is used to charge the vehicle’s battery during its lifetime. Depending on where you live, electricity is produced from different sources. This is the so-called “Energy mix”. If the energy used to charge the battery is primarily produced from fossil fuels i.e. coal, gas or oil, driving the electric car will have a greater carbon footprint than if the Energy mix primarily stems from green sources like wind and solar (or nuclear). LINK In this link, you can see a graphical representation of the energy mix of the different European countries. Click on the icons beneath the graph to see how much each country relies on the different types of energy sources. |
| In Northern Europe, many countries have a high percentage of their energy production coming from clean and sustainable energy, such as hydro, wind and solar power. If you charge your EV in Sweden, the energy provided in the charging stations is very green, as Sweden produces a lot of their electricity from Hydro- and Nuclear plants. If you, on the other hand, charge your EV in Germany or Poland, much of the electricity is produced from coal. This affects the size of the carbon footprint, and so, it also determines how far you need to drive in your EV before you get to the “break even point” of the ICE vehicle, where the EV has caught up with the ICE. The lower emission of the EV dictates that you WILL eventually catch up to the ICE vehicle. |  |
