Study: EVs Release More Toxic Emissions and Are Worse for the Environment than Gas-Powered Cars

Electric vehicles including EVs produced by Elon Musk’s Tesla release more toxic emissions into the atmosphere and are worse for the environment than gas-powered vehicles, a resurfaced study from 2022 revealed.

The study published by emissions data firm Emission Analytics in 2022 has resurfaced and attracted a slew of attention recently, after being cited in a Wall Street Journal op-ed over the weekend.

Emission Analytics found in its 2022 study that brakes and tires on electric vehicles release 1,850 times more particle pollution than tailpipes on gas-powered vehicles, which are considered to have “efficient” exhaust filters.

Most most pollution from vehicles today reportedly comes from tire wear, as most of them are made from petroleum, crude oil, and other harmful elements, which generates particle pollution and releases harmful chemicals into the air as the tires wear down, Emission Analytics said.

Notably, electric vehicles are on average 30 percent heavier than gas-powered vehicles, so the brakes and tires on EVs wear out much faster. This problem is made worse by the heavy batteries in Tesla EVs, which will only get worse as larger electric trucks are introduced into the market.

In one example, tire wear emissions on an electric vehicle was found to be more than 400 times worse than a gas-powered car, Emission Analytics revealed.

California leaders, meanwhile, are under the assumption that electric vehicles and gas-powered vehicles have the same amount of tire wear, the Wall Street Journal noted.

The study also runs counter to the narrative of the Biden administration, which last year issued regulations requiring American automakers to ensure that nearly seven in ten new cars sold in the United States are EVs — essentially forcing American consumers to buy EVs — in an attempt to make it so that two-thirds of new cars in the U.S. are electric by the year 2032.

Interestingly, President Joe Biden’s campaign may understand how unpopular that goal is, given that Biden reportedly plans to pump the brakes on his EV mandates a few months before the 2024 presidential election.

California lawmakers, meanwhile, have been claiming that electric vehicles generate “zero emissions” due to not having tailpipes, the Wall Street Journal noted, adding that it is “deceptive” to say this about EVs.

The New York Department of Health has warned that more exposure to these types of harmful chemicals “can increase the risk of health problems like heart disease, asthma, and low birth weight,” and noted that pollution emitted from vehicles are able to travel long distances, causing health problems if found in excess in other locations.

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