The Volvo EX30 looks to have one of the smallest full-life carbon footprints of any comparable electric vehicle. That’s certainly the claim of Volvo, which has released a full scientific break-down of the EX30’s carbon emissions, from the moment the lights are turned on in the factory that makes it, to the moment when its aluminium and steel body is shredded and recycled into new parts.
Construction to recycling
It’s often said that the only truly meaningful assessment of a car’s CO2 emissions is to take a ‘cradle-to-grave’ approach, looking at not merely the CO2 emitted when the car is being driven (whether that comes from an exhaust pipe or from the generation of electricity to top up its battery) but all of its related emissions, from when it was built to when it is recycled. The EX30 was designed from the start to have one of the lowest full-lifecycle carbon footprints, and Volvo has just announced that the final figure is 23 tonnes of CO2 per 200,000km of ownership. That’s a bit of a meaningless figure without context, but helpfully, Volvo provides just that by telling us that it’s some 60 per cent lower than the petrol-engined Volvo XC40.
Exhaustive report
Volvo has compiled a full and exhaustive report into the EX30’s lifetime CO2 emissions, but one of the most important figures is the importance of building up renewable energy supplies for charging electric cars. According to the report, if you use 100 per cent solar energy to charge an EX30 for all of its driving, its CO2 emissions fall even further - by 42 per cent compared to the global electricity generation average and by 22 per cent compared to the European average. “Transitioning to electric cars is key to limiting climate change, but increased transparency about its challenges is needed to reduce their emissions even further,” says Jonas Otterheim, Head of Climate Action at Volvo Cars. “By studying the EX30’s carbon footprint and identifying its primary materials and processes, we aim to provide valuable insights that can help guide decisions in our company towards becoming more sustainable, as well as among the wider industry.” Volvo has also produced reports for the EX40 and EC40 (what used to be called the XC40 and C40 Recharge models) and is in the process of releasing all reports into the public domain. Volvo says this process is crucial for being fully transparent and truthful about transport-based CO2 emissions.
Recycled materials
How has the company managed to reduce the EX30’s emissions so much? As always, it’s not just one big thing; it’s a multitude of smaller actions. It starts with the proportion of recycled material used in the EX30—around one-quarter of the aluminium and almost one-fifth of the steel are recycled. In addition, around 17 per cent of all plastics within the car, from interior components to exterior bumpers, are made from recycled material. The EX30’s cradle-to-gate emissions - those generated while it’s being built - are pegged at 14.8 tonnes of CO2, 60 per cent of its total life emissions. That’s actually a pretty impressive figure, as the EX30 doesn’t have an especially small battery, and such emissions are directly linked to battery production. For instance, according to GreenNCAP, a tiny Fiat 500 has cradle-to-gate emissions of around 15 tonnes of CO2, while the bigger-battery Ford Mustang Mach-E emits 22 tonnes of CO2 while it’s being built. A Volvo spokesperson said, “We plan to reduce the EX30’s CO2 impact even further by collaborating with suppliers across our entire value chain. By 2025 for example, our battery suppliers are working towards reducing emissions from manufacturing the LFP battery by 20 per cent, and by 46 per cent in the case of the NMC battery. To do this, our suppliers aim to replace electricity usage during cell manufacturing with renewable energy sources, increase the share of recycled content in their materials and reduce their supply chain emissions.”