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Transport

Driving an EV for 1 km

Sähköautolla ajaminen 1 km

0.3
Truecost score
Data confidence: MEDIUM

Carbon well-established. Water and toxicity around mining have significant uncertainty.

One EV kilometer produces ~53g CO₂e (EU grid + battery manufacturing), with 30% more tire microplastics than gasoline cars due to heavier batteries.

Did you know? EVs produce 30% more tire microplastics than gasoline cars due to heavier batteries.
Transparent calculation

How was this number determined?

The Truecost score is calculated from absolute physical values. Each row below shows the measured value, how it was normalized, and where it comes from.

Dimension Absolute value Score 100 = Normalized Weight Weighted Confidence
Carbon Emissions 0.053 kg CO₂e 9.5 kg CO₂e 0.56 ×0.35 0.20 HIGH
Water Consumption 3.0 liters 3840 liters 0.08 ×0.2 0.02 MEDIUM
Land Use 0.1 m²·year 51 m²·year 0.2 ×0.2 0.04 LOW
Waste 0.0003 kg 5 kg 0.01 ×0.15 0.00 HIGH
Toxicity 0.5 µDALY 162 µDALY 0.31 ×0.1 0.03 LOW
Truecost score (weighted sum) 0.3

Share of your annual planetary budget

Carbon Emissions <0.01%
Water Consumption <0.01%
Land Use <0.01%
Waste <0.01%
Toxicity <0.01%
Source data by dimension

Where do the absolute values come from?

Carbon Emissions
HIGH
Electricity: 0.18 kWh/km × 250 g/kWh (EU 2023) = 45g. Battery: 10,000 kg CO₂e / 200,000 km = 50g. Net (offset by no engine): ~53g/km.
  • Transport & Environment (2023): How clean are electric cars?
  • IVL (2019, updated 2024): Lithium-Ion Vehicle Battery Production

T&E lifecycle: EVs 3x less CO₂ than ICE over lifetime in EU.

Water Consumption
MEDIUM
Battery mfg: 50,000L/75kWh / 200,000km = 0.25L/km. Electricity: 2.5 L/kWh × 0.18 = 0.45L. Li extraction: ~0.025L/km. Total ≈ 3L.
  • Kelly et al. (2019): Energy, GHG, water footprint of EV batteries — ANL
  • Flexer et al. (2018): Water footprint of lithium extraction

Lithium brine evaporation water use is debated.

Land Use
LOW
Road infrastructure ~0.1 m²·year/km, similar to ICE.
  • Chester & Horvath (2009): Life-cycle assessment of transportation
Waste
HIGH
Tire wear: 0.15 g/km (30% more than ICE due to weight). Brake wear minimal (regen braking). Total ~0.3g.
  • Emissions Analytics (2022): Tire wear from EVs vs ICE
  • OECD (2020): Non-exhaust emissions — EV data

EVs produce MORE tire microplastics than ICE. Almost never discussed.

Toxicity
LOW
Cobalt mining (DRC) health impacts amortized over battery lifetime. Extremely uncertain.
  • Sovacool (2019): Precarious political economy of cobalt — ERSS

Comparisons

Methodology

T&E (2023) lifecycle analysis. 0.18 kWh/km, EU grid 250g/kWh. Battery amortized over 200,000km. Tire wear +30% vs ICE.

Sources