Manufacturing Impact: EVs Start with a Carbon Debt

EVs do have a dirty secret: building them (especially the battery) currently causes more emissions than building a conventional car. Manufacturing a typical mid-size EV can result in significantly higher CO2 emissions than making a similar gas car – one study said about 6 tons CO2 for a gas car vs 10 tons for an EV (mostly due to battery)[138][139]. Why so? Because battery production is energy-intensive and involves mining and processing of materials like lithium, cobalt, nickel. These processes often occur in countries with carbon-intensive electricity (e.g., China using coal for refining).

For instance, mining and refining lithium and cobalt can be environmentally taxing, not to mention concerns about water use (lithium brine extraction can use a lot of water)[140] and even human rights issues in mining[141]. The groundwater usage in battery production can be 50% higher than for a combustion car's production[142], as one source noted[141].

This manufacturing “carbon debt” means an EV starts its life having emitted more CO2 (from the factories, etc.) than a gas car did. However, over the car’s lifetime, the EV typically more than makes up for that initial deficit[134][143]. The EPA states that even when accounting for manufacturing, EVs usually have lower total greenhouse emissions over lifetime[134]. The break-even point (when the EV’s lower operating emissions outweigh its higher manufacturing emissions) might come after some tens of thousands of miles. Studies put it anywhere from 6 months to 2 years of driving for the EV to break even with a gas car in terms of total CO2[143][144]. A lot depends on the grid and battery size.

To illustrate: a Polestar/Rivian report in 2023 showed an EV had about 2x higher manufacturing emissions but far lower usage emissions, leading to roughly half the total life cycle CO2 of a gas car (37 tons vs 76 tons in one example)[135][145]. That was assuming current global average grid. If the grid gets greener, the EV’s use phase shrinks further.

Another consideration is raw material sourcing: Gasoline production isn’t clean either (drilling, refining oil is energy intensive and environmentally risky – spills, etc.). Some studies consider those upstream fuel emissions for gas cars too. When you include refining gasoline, the difference in manufacturing+fuel supply narrows a bit. The EPA’s GREET model (from Argonne) does this cradle-to-grave analysis. It finds that total lifetime GHG for an average EV is lower than a comparable gas car even accounting for a bigger manufacturing chunk[146][144]. In a chart EPA shared, the EV’s manufacturing (blue+orange bars) is bigger, but the gasoline car’s gray+yellow bars (fuel production + tailpipe) tower over the EV’s electricity + no tailpipe bars[147][148].

Recycling can further tip the scales. If EV batteries are recycled at end of life, the need for new raw materials for the next gen is reduced, cutting future manufacturing emissions[149]. Battery recycling is still ramping up, but there’s progress (companies like Redwood Materials, Li-Cycle, etc. are doing this). The hope is to “close the loop” and make EVs more sustainable.