EVs are slowly taking over your roads, and while many people associate them with efficiency, they're also easier on the environment in the long run than an ICE car. While mining lithium and cobalt for lithium-ion batteries is harmful, EVs make up for it with emissions savings over the car's lifespan.

So, here are three reasons why EVs are better for the environment than gasoline-powered cars, especially as energy generation becomes cleaner.

1. EVs Have Zero Tailpipe Emissions

According to OSTI, conventional internal combustion engine vehicles are responsible for approximately 10% of the world's greenhouse gases. It's an immense figure and is the exact area where electric vehicles can help curb the emissions woes the planet currently struggles with.

Not only this, but according to the EPA's website, even when you take into account the initial burden on the environment resulting from manufacturing, EVs are still cleaner than ICE vehicles over their lifetimes in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.

The greenhouse gas emissions associated with an electric vehicle over its lifetime are typically lower than those from an average gasoline-powered vehicle, even when accounting for manufacturing.

The great thing about an EV is that it doesn't actually produce tailpipe emissions. Thus, day-to-day contamination from driving is virtually nonexistent.

The best-case scenario with an electric vehicle would be to charge the vehicle with a clean and renewable electric power grid, such as Norway's mostly hydroelectric energy infrastructure, which can produce up to 90% of the country's power.

It is truly the ideal scenario if you can plug in your EV to a clean power grid. Some places even offer ways to charge your EV for free. According to the EPA's website, electric vehicles typically have a smaller carbon footprint than the average gasoline car, even when considering the electricity used for charging the vehicle.

Electric vehicles typically have a smaller carbon footprint than gasoline cars, even when accounting for the electricity used for charging.

2. Internal Combustion Cars Continuously Pollute

Vehicles that run on gasoline or diesel will continuously pollute the environment for the duration of their effective life. This is just the simple-yet-unfortunate consequence of how a gasoline vehicle powers its propulsion, which is by combustion of the air/fuel mixture it uses.

However, it means that an internal combustion engine's tailpipe will perpetually emit harmful emissions and contaminate the environment whenever the vehicle is in use.

This huge difference in the amount of pollution that these vehicles contribute is what allows electric cars to be cleaner than their ICE counterparts over a long time, even when they initially exact a heavier toll on the environment due to the manufacturing process unique to EVs.

Currently, according to this MIT-developed carbon counting tool, a Toyota Prius Hybrid would actually be slightly more efficient in terms of greenhouse gas emissions than a Chevrolet Volt EV if charged on a theoretically 100% coal grid. But taking into account the US average mix, the Volt would emit fewer greenhouse gases. This highlights the issues a dirty electrical grid can create, and this is using an efficient Chevy Volt as a comparison instead of high-performance EVs.

3. Battery Tech Will Continue Getting Greener

Companies like Ford actively seek to make EV production greener, especially battery production, which currently exerts a large environmental burden. Ford partnered with Redwood Materials to help create a closed-loop process where they can recycle battery waste.

Ford says Redwood Materials recycling technology can recover up to 95% of elements such as nickel, cobalt, lithium, and copper, which will help Ford source their material for batteries locally and help alleviate the demand for imported and mined materials. In addition, as the grid becomes greener and battery recycling technology continues to improve, EVs will continue to be the cleaner option.

EVs Will Drive an Energetic Revolution

The US is actively trying to clean up its energy grid, and according to the EIA, most of the new additions to the US energy grid in 2021 were considered renewable. The grid in the US is actively going green, making the most significant emission caveat associated with electric vehicles (batteries—once initial production environmental impact is factored in) a key area of EV innovation.

In the near future, you will be able to charge your EV using a green energy grid, and its batteries will most likely be sourced from recycled materials, ensuring that the vehicle you're driving is truly doing its part to clean up the environment.