Electric cars are becoming increasingly more popular in the UK.
Alternatively fuelled cars such as electric and plug-in hybrid cars grew in sales by 23 per cent last month compared to the same period in 2017.
Despite this, electric and hybrid cars still only represent a marginal amount of vehicles sold in Britain.
Carmakers are stating their intent in developing and building electric cars
It is common knowledge that due to the fact that electric cars are powered by electric motors and a battery pack and not a combustion engine, they produce zero exhaust emissions and no harmful pollutants on the road.
However, certain groups were concerned that the carbon-intensive process of battery manufacturing could have a negative impact on CO2 emissions and may not be any cleaner over the vehicle’s lifetime.
Now, new research has suggested that an electric vehicle can produce up to half the amount of greenhouse gas emissions over a car’s lifetime, competed to a fossil-fuel car.
Emissions produced by cars are thought to contribute to the premature deaths of around 40,000 people in the UK every year.
This significant reduction of emissions could be a key reason for drivers to make the switch to EVs.
In addition to this electric cars are exempt from certain taxes and levies being introduced in the UK.
From 2019 certain cities will tax vehicles that don’t meet a certain emissions standard for entering certain areas.
Experts are hoping that the revelation will see more motorists switch to having an electric vehicle.
“The take-up of EVs in the UK, as elsewhere, continues to grow fast and sales have just passed 4 million globally,” said Andy Eastlake, managing director of the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership.
“While no one doubts the air quality benefits of zero tailpipe emissions, critics often question the overall lifecycle greenhouse gas impacts.”
The UK will host the world’s first zero-emissions summit in Birmingham next week, seeing nation’s leaders come together to discuss low emissions car.
This summit will bring forward ideas to incentivise the uptake and adoption of electric vehicles across the world.
Aurelien Schuller from French consulting firm Carbone 4, claimed that “there is no time to waste in the UK’s transition to EVs”.
“Thanks to an already-significant decarbonisation of its electricity generation through coal phase-out the UK is already in a position to make significant cuts in the greenhouse gases from its transport sector,” he said.