Switching to an electric car in Slovakia really makes sense.

In recent weeks, we at the Slovak Association for E-Mobility (SEVA) have been intensively collecting and studying scientific papers on what the actual carbon footprint of passenger vehicles looks like throughout their entire life cycle. We found that the arguments of e-mobility opponents don't hold up.

They rightly argue that the impact on the environment should also consider the batteries, mining and processing of raw materials, energy required for production, and recycling at the end of the vehicle’s life cycle. However, in every comparison, the electric vehicle (BEV) emerges as the clear winner over the internal combustion engine car (ICE).

Comparing the carbon footprint created by the production, use, and disposal of a vehicle over 15 years and 150,000 kilometers is no simple task. Different greenhouse gases are produced, each with a different effect on the atmosphere.

However, scientists have found a way to convert these impacts into a unified indicator – CO₂ equivalent per vehicle kilometer (gCO₂e/vkm). This indicator, known as GWP (Global Warming Potential), converts all greenhouse gases into CO₂ equivalents, making it much easier to compare their impact on global warming.

They don’t start from the same position.

In some respects, critics of electric vehicles (EVs) are indeed right: at the moment when BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles) roll off the production line, they immediately have a carbon footprint roughly twice as high (built into the vehicle and its battery, which, by the way, is the main "culprit" for this difference). However, with each kilometer driven, this "emission debt" is gradually offset due to the more efficient operation of the vehicle.

This parameter was used by Slovak researcher Kamil Jaššo, who published a study on the ecological impact of vehicles titled Ecological Impact of Vehicles: A Comparative Study in the Visegrad Countries at the Brno University of Technology (VUT Brno). He defined the so-called break-even point, i.e., the number of kilometers that a BEV must drive to offset its production-related emissions. This is an innovative approach to comparing the "built-in" carbon footprint of the vehicle from the moment of manufacture. It also clearly illustrates the importance of the energy mix of the country in which the electric vehicle is used.

Scientists' calculations showed that with Slovakia’s low-emission energy mix, an electric vehicle with a 39 kWh battery reaches the break-even point after just 13,000 kilometers. In contrast, in Poland, where most electricity is generated from coal, the real ecological benefit is achieved only after 50,000 kilometers. In Slovakia, the ecological advantages of BEVs are already evident after a relatively short distance.

Slovakia stands out with its predominant share of nuclear and renewable energy, significantly reducing emissions during BEV operation. Kamil Jaššo, as the main author of the study, emphasizes the importance of further decarbonizing the energy mix, which is crucial for maximizing the benefits of e-mobility.

These findings are also confirmed by other...

The Czech study is the most recent, but in the past few months, other similar scientific works have also been published that measure the cumulative emissions from the production, operation, and disposal of passenger vehicles with various types of drivetrains. According to the analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), the total greenhouse gas emissions over the life cycle of a BEV could be 66 to 74 percent lower compared to an ICE vehicle.

Results from another study by Ricardo for the International Automobile Federation (FIA) also reliably demonstrated that electric vehicles in Europe reduce emissions by 63 percent, with the difference potentially growing to 80 percent by 2050.

Batteries are no longer the weak link

In discussions about electromobility, we often encounter the argument that battery production is too energy- and material-intensive, generating significant emissions. The Ricardo study claims that emissions associated with the production of electric vehicles are roughly twice as high compared to ICE vehicles, mainly due to battery production. However, the situation is completely different during the usage phase. Electric vehicles powered by electricity produce significantly fewer greenhouse gases than their internal combustion counterparts.

Another common argument from opponents of electromobility concerns the lifespan of batteries. However, new data has convinced us that such concerns are mostly unfounded. For example, in a study conducted at VUT Brno, where four practically identical Hyundai Kona vehicles were tracked, it was shown that the electric version must travel at least 500,000 kilometers before the battery capacity drops to 80 percent.

This clearly confirms that batteries in modern electric vehicles last much longer than is often claimed. The fear that you’ll have to replace the battery in a BEV as often as you replace the batteries in a remote control is therefore not based in reality.

The graph illustrates the State of Health (SOH) data for 64 different BEV and PHEV models from Geotab (2024). Each curve represents the average aggregated data for a specific model and year. The graph shows that SOH values decline as the vehicle ages, with the average SOH value after five years at 89 percent, which corresponds to an average degradation of about 2.2 percent per year. How does mileage affect battery degradation? According to Recurrent Auto’s data, capacity decreases by about 1 percent after every 25,100 km, meaning the total degradation after 160,900 km (100,000 miles) is around 4 percent.

The Victory of Electric Vehicles Across the Board

For us at SEVA, the transition to electromobility is not just a technical or economic matter, but also a matter of personal conviction. Every driver who switches to an electric vehicle represents a significant contribution to improving the environment.

In Slovakia, we have ideal technical conditions for the development of electromobility, not only because our automotive manufacturers are managing the transformation of production excellently but also due to our low-emission energy mix. With the predominance of renewable and nuclear energy sources, switching to a BEV in Slovakia is far more impactful than, for example, in Poland.

That is why at SEVA, we are working to convince experts, companies, and individuals that electric vehicles are the right path for the future of transport and a healthier planet.