Electric Cars

Many consumers are now seriously considering the purchase of electric cars.

According to a survey in July 2018 by the motor group AA, half of young people in the UK would like to own an electric car.

By the end of 2017, plug-in cars as a proportion of total UK registrations had only reached 2.9%, but the overall market for hybrid and electric cars has grown by 156% in four years.

Improvements in technology and a broadening of the range of models available (now over 90) from virtually all the major manufacturers should see this portion of the market continue to grow over the coming years.

Electric cars outperform most other models environmentally with recent research suggesting that, on average, they will emit half the CO2 emissions of a diesel car by 2030, including the manufacturing emissions. They do cost more though, and there are still issues with the distance they can travel before recharges. But they have become practical options for increasing numbers of people. 

As the 'Top 30 greenest cars' table shows below, electric cars can be expensive, even after government grants, although prices are coming down. The price quoted on the table is after the application of grants. Their newness also means that there are fewer second-hand models available at lower prices, although as the electric car market grows so will the resale market. You can search for used electric cars on Next Green Car.

Top 30 Greenest Cars

(ranked by Next Green Car rating, where 0 is the greenest car)

Hybrid cars

Although hybrid cars are at least as expensive as electric cars, they do solve the problem of distance between charges for those who want to reduce motoring impacts but need a longer range. Although they still have a petrol engine on board, many people see them as a useful intermediate technology until charging infrastructure and car technology improves to make pure electric practical for everyone.

There are two main types of hybrid car:

• The old-style of hybrid uses batteries to give lower fuel consumption, but doesn’t really have a ‘range’ it can travel on battery alone. Three models make it onto the top 30 greenest cars table.

• PHEV stands for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle and there are six models in the top thirty table. They can be recharged from ordinary mains electricity like a pure electric car and can usually travel around 30-40 miles on battery alone. 

Although almost all current hybrids mix petrol engines with electric motors, there are a couple of models of diesel electric hybrids appearing on the market. For the reasons stated below, we would not recommend them. 

Diesel phase-out and fleet electrification

Many companies are setting ambitious targets for diesel phase-out far off into the future but, without constant vigilance, it is not uncommon to see such targets slip. Nevertheless, when we look at how much has changed in the last three years, it is hugely encouraging to see clear(ish) shared goals and ambitions spreading so fast around the world. More needs to be done, particularly around electrifying larger buses and trucks, but it is encouraging nonetheless.

The future is now clearly one of electric vehicles powered by a 100% renewable energy grid. And it is the emergence of electric vehicles as a viable replacement technology which has been key to giving governments the confidence to draw a line under petrol and diesel. Nevertheless, as with the phase-out of diesel, it is clear that some car manufacturers are embracing this change more enthusiastically than others.

The table below combines Greenpeace research with an Ethical Consumer score to identify the companies with the most ambitious policies towards all-electric offerings. Performance on this table has also influenced our best buy advice for cars.

Following the dieselgate scandal, UK sales of diesel cars have fallen by 17% since 2017 and by 37% comparing March 2018 with March 2017. With regulators no longer convinced by the promises of cleaner diesel, a range of tools are now being employed to discourage its use. Key amongst these are low emission zones inside big cities.

There is a corporate responsibility issue here too, and the table shows which have most enthusiastically embraced the idea that diesel is a technology of the past. The two biggest car companies in the world, Toyota and VW, sit on opposite sides in the debate which is why much of Greenpeace’s energy in this space is now targeting VW.

Conflict minerals 

Today electronics form an essential part of a car. Drivers are now reliant on their cars’ computers for safety and maintenance, and futurologists tell us that cars will increasingly be shaped by the developments in the ‘Internet of Things’.

This means that car manufacturers are now one of the biggest consumers of elements commonly known as ‘Conflict Minerals’. Conflict minerals are defined as being tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold which have been mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and surrounding areas. The mining of these minerals has been implicated in the financing of no fewer than 27 conflicts within Africa.

Car companies’ conflict minerals policies

There has been a lot of focus on electronics companies with regards to conflict minerals, yet the automotive industry has received very little scrutiny from civil society. While nearly all the companies mentioned the issue of conflict minerals in their public reports, the industry seems to be very slow in reacting to the pressure needed to ensure minerals sourced are conflict free.

Of the 20 companies covered in this guide that we rated on their conflict minerals policies:

• only Tesla and Ford received our best rating,
• Toyota, General Motors and FiatChrysler scored middle
• the remaining companies all received a worst rating.

Use of cobalt in batteries

Cobalt is needed to create lithium-ion batteries, and over half of the world’s cobalt supply comes from the DRC. Although it is not currently considered a conflict mineral, cobalt mining in the DRC has been linked to dangerous and unhealthy working conditions, deaths and widespread child labour. As a result, a number of human rights organisations are now pushing for it to be added to the list of minerals included in the Dodd-Frank Section 1502 Conflict Minerals Rule.

In November 2017, Amnesty International released a new report called ‘Time to Recharge’, looking at companies’ sourcing policies for cobalt from the DRC. It assesses the progress that 28 companies likely to be buying cobalt from the DRC have made since the risk of child labour was revealed to them in January 2016.

The progress report says: “As a group, the companies in the electric vehicle sector are lagging behind their counterparts in the computer, communication and consumer electronics sectors when it comes to due diligence over their cobalt supply chains. Only one company surveyed has made explicit reference to cobalt as a material requiring particular due diligence, even though many of the rest are already following the OECD Guidance for their 3TG [other conflict minerals] supply chains.

None are disclosing the identities of their cobalt smelters/refiners, as required under international standards. Though many companies have joined industry-led joint initiatives to address risks associated with cobalt and other raw materials, none is currently disclosing specific risks or abuses identified in connection with their supply chains. In light of the amount of cobalt the companies in this sector are expected to consume, much more action is urgently needed.”