homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Environmental progress from electric vehicles hampered by growing SUV sales

More people are choosing to buy larger and more polluting cars

Fermin Koop
October 16, 2019 @ 10:20 pm

share Share

Despite the electric vehicle market gaining momentum in many countries, people are also showing signs of a shift towards larger and less fuel-efficient cars, known as Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), which could challenge emissions reductions in the passenger car market.

Credit Wikimedia Commons

More than 350 electric vehicles will be launched by 2025 by carmakers, mostly small-to-medium variants. This suggests a tenfold increase in annual electric car sales, to 20 million vehicles a year by 2030, from 2 million in 2018. This means nearly 7% of the car fleet will be electric by 2030.

But a more silent change could challenge the electric revolution. The share of SUVs has grown sixfold over the last decade, with over 200 million SUVs around the world now, up from 35 million in 2010. Around 40% of annual car sales today are SUVs, compared with less than 20% a decade ago.

Figures differ in different parts of the world. In the US, around half of all cars are SUVs — whereas in Europe, the figure is closer to 33%. In China, SUVs are considered symbols of wealth and status, and SUVs are in high demand. In India, sales are lower, but consumer preferences are changing. Similarly, in Africa, the rapid pace of economic development means that demand for premium vehicles is strong.

More SUVs on the road mean more greenhouse gas emissions. This type of car was the second-largest contributor to the increase in global CO2 emissions since 2010 after the power sector. Their emissions rose by nearly 0.55 Gt CO2 during the last decade to roughly 0.7 Gt CO2.

The reason behind their higher emissions is mainly the fact that they consume about a quarter more energy than medium-size cars. As a result, global fuel economy worsened caused in part by the rising SUV demand, despite efficiency improvements in smaller cars saved over 2 million barrels a day.

Looking at the numbers, SUVs were responsible for all of the 3.3 million barrels a day growth in oil demand from passenger cars between 2010 and 2018, while oil use from other types of cars (excluding SUVs) declined slightly.

If consumers’ appetite for SUVs continues to grow at a similar pace seen in the last decade, SUVs would add nearly 2 million barrels a day in global oil demand by 2040, offsetting the savings from nearly 150 million electric cars, according to recent estimates.

Reducing emissions would then mean a push not only for electric vehicles but also for smaller cars. Bigger ones, such as SUVs, are harder to electrify and growth in their sales would affect the outlook for passenger cars and the evolution of future oil demand and carbon emissions.

share Share

CERN Creates Gold from Lead and There's No Magic, Just Physics

Researchers at CERN have managed to knock enough protons off lead atoms to make gold.

A New AI Tool Can Recreate Your Face Using Nothing But Your DNA

New AI built by Chinese scientists can create 3D faces from DNA with alarming accuracy.

How Some Flowers Evolved the Grossest Stench — and Why Flies Love It

Flowers keep making the same mutation time and time again.

People Living Near Golf Courses Face Double the Risk of Parkinson’s

The strong pesticides sprayed on golf courses leech into the groundwater and scientists suspect this could increase the risk of Parkinson's.

He Let Snakes Bite Him Over 200 Times and Now Scientists Want His Blood for an Universal Antivenom

A universal snakebite treatment may be within reach, thanks to an unlikely human experiment.

These companies want to make hand bags out of T-rex leather. But scientists aren't buying it

A lab-grown leather inspired by dinosaur skin sparks excitement—and scientific skepticism

This car-sized "millipede" was built like a tank — and had the face to go with it

A Carboniferous beast is showing its face.

Climate Change Is Breaking the Insurance Industry

Climate related problems, from storms to health issues, are causing a wave of change in the insurance industry.

9 Environmental Stories That Don't Get as Much Coverage as They Should

From whales to soil microbes, our planet’s living systems are fraying in silence.

Scientists Find CBD in a Common Brazilian Shrub That's Not Cannabis

This wild plant grows across South America and contains CBD.