Why if electric car sales are increasing, are emissions still rising?
Although the UK’s electric car sales doubled in 2019, CO2 emissions of cars sold have increased for the 3rd year in a row. So why do emissions keep rising if electric cars made up 1.6% of the market, double the figure of the year before?
Although we bought more electric cars, for every electric car bought, we purchased 37 SUVS – 12% more than in 2018. The UK’s growing interest in bigger, heavier vehicles has contributed to pulling the UK away from the CO2 targets the EU drew up plans for in 2012.
The sales for diesel cars were still strong in 2012 but due to the Volkswagen emissions scandal, people have become sceptical of diesel vehicles and they have decreased in popularity significantly. All of this has contributed to the average CO2 emissions per kilometre for UK cars standing at 127.9 grams, well past the EU’s target of 95g. Why are we as a nation prioritising a preference for SUVs over making the switch that 2020 really needs?
Although the sales of electric vehicles increasing shows a change of attitude that is fantastic to see, converting to electric cars needs to be done as quickly as possible to reduce the emissions to the level they should be. Waiting for the 2035 ban is not enough when emissions are rising year on year.