Concerns over electric cars

As an environmentalist I hoped I would never have to write this letter. However, I have had to since I have some serious reservations about the concept of electrical transportation in Malta.

My concern is twofold: firstly, electric cars are only environmentally friendly when charged with cleanly generated electricity or when the generation and distribution of electricity from fossil fuels is very efficient. Alas, in Malta, practically all our electricity is derived from the burning of fossil fuels. That is, cleanly generated electricity is not available unless you produce it yourself. So no advantages here.

However, an electric car may be environmentally friendly if the combined fuel efficiency of the power station, the efficiency of the electricity distribution system and the electric car is better than that of a standard internal combustion engine. Again, it is very likely that, in Malta, this is not the case. Most of the generating units at the power station are obsolete and/or inefficient and there are considerable losses in the electricity distribution network. This, combined with the inherent inefficiencies in any electric car (motor inefficiencies, loss of power on charging) will probably result in a standard internal combustion (petrol or diesel) car being more efficient than an electric car.

Secondly, I have an issue with the huge turnover of accumulators (batteries) in electric cars. Can anybody guarantee that used batteries are actually not ending up in our landfills or, worse still, in the countryside, in the soil, in our water? I am still to be convinced that there is an organised, controlled and effective process for environmentally safe waste collection and recycling of used car batteries in Malta.

I hate to add more gloom for the owners or prospective owners of electric vehicles, especially after the severe setback incurred through the introduction of the surcharge on the electricity tariff. But ideas on alternative means of transportation must be studied in a holistic way - encouraging the use of electric cars without studying the whole energy cycle is naïve, to put it mildly.