Hybrid and EV production pollutes more than gas cars, but...

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A study conducted by Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP), an important advocate of green vehicles in the auto industry, demonstrated that hybrid and electric vehicles create more carbon emissions during their manufacturing process than gas-powered vehicles. However, their final lifecycle carbon footprint is still lower than that of conventional cars.

In light of these findings, champions of the Chevrolet Volt, Nissan LEAF, Mitsubishi i-MiEV and others can now claim that electric and hybrid models truly are more environmentally friendly and silence their critics once and for all.

Photo : Nissan

On the other hand, the study also shows that quite a few improvements need to be made for green vehicles to become truly green, from the moment they’re developed through to the day they’re brought to the scrap yard (or recycled, rather).

Estimated carbon emissions during production (tons of CO2)
Gasoline vehicle: 5.6
Hybrid vehicle: 6.5
Plug-in hybrid vehicle: 6.7
Battery electric hybrid: 8.8

Estimated lifecycle carbon emissions (tons of CO2)
Gasoline vehicle: 24
Hybrid vehicle: 21
Plug-in hybrid vehicle: 19
Battery electric hybrid vehicle: 19

Proportion of emissions during production (%)
Gasoline vehicle: 23%
Hybrid vehicle: 31%
Plug-in hybrid vehicle: 35%
Battery electric hybrid vehicle: 46%