What’s the best car for reducing my carbon footprint?

Let’s start with the obvious answer: the best car for reducing your carbon footprint right now, is no car. It doesn’t matter if you get a fully electric vehicle and are able to charge it with 100% renewable energy. The materials that go into that car (and the electricity generation) have to be extracted from the earth or processed. Manufacturing automobiles is energy intensive. Predominantly fossil fuels are used to power factories and transport of goods, although many manufacturers purchase carbon offsets. We aren’t yet in a world with readily accessible carbon negative cars.

But, like everything in life, you want to find the balance that is right for you. Maybe you want a car for commuting, getting groceries, carting family members around. Perhaps you live in your car. Or your lifestyle includes traveling outside of your city or town frequently. You could rent a vehicle, borrow one from a friend, use a ride share; utilize public transportation, buses, trains, street cars; stick to what’s within walking distance from you, or use bicycles and delivery services.

For me, my “need” for a car stems from convenience, with a bit of cost and time considerations sprinkled in there.

Should I replace my internal combustion engine vehicle?

I currently own a 2008 Toyota RAV4, 2.4L 4-cylinder combustion engine. I purchased it used in 2016 so I could access hiking, backcountry camping and skiing locations. At the time, car shares seldom provided 4×4 capability and winter tires, and I didn’t want to have to depend on friends to drive me everywhere. I wanted to get a hybrid (electric cars didn’t have 4×4 or AWD capabilities back then), but it was well outside of my price range. I rationalized the monetary and environmental costs to myself. Having the freedom to go just about wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted would make me happier, nicer to be around, and ultimately more capable of being a good and contributing person to society.

My usage ranges between 5,000 and 10,000 km a year, mostly from weekend trips to the mountains and a road trip or two. With an average fuel economy of 4.5 gallons / 100 mi, driving my car contributes to 1.5 to 3.0 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year. That may not seem crazy high, but the global CO2 emissions per capita is 4.5, and everything adds up when we’re trying to get to net zero.

It’s been 7 years with my RAV. My priorities and life circumstances aren’t exactly the same as they were 7 years ago. So what are the options today?

Setting priorities

When buying a car, there are many factors to consider. Quality, reliability, financing. Appearance, features, performance. How many cup holders are there? Does it have rear climate control? Buying a car is a big purchase, and everyone has their personal preferences. For me, I’m making decisions based on how much stuff I can take with me, vehicle reliability, travel distance factors, environmental impact, and cost.

Can I bring all my stuff?

It may sound like a trivial factor, but carrying capacity is important. There is the weight a car haul, and how much volume can it hold.

As mentioned earlier in this article, the reason I own a car is so I can access backcountry locations. Typically I’m bringing people and all of our sports equipment somewhere to access mountains, rivers, and forests. I also have a dog who likes adventuring in the trails. When we take the car out for an trip, we are typically loaded up with an assortment of bicycles, climbing or ski equipment, and camping gear. Optimizing for passengers, pets, and awkward shaped equipment can make total volume and internal configuration an important factor.

While not as highly ranked for me, another priority for people vehicle shopping, is the ability to haul something really heavy. If you adventure with a trailer or boat, that requires additional consideration. There are a lot of options nowadays for this capacity, alternative to gigantic pick up trucks.

What’s wrong with that car?

Once you have your shortlist of options, let’s do a search into the manufacturer’s history. Does the model have known issues? Have they made recalls on similar models, or cars with similar components?

Buying used

A look at mileage and distance/year gives some indication of what shape the car is likely to be in. Also consider where the car was previously owned. Certain climates and road conditions can have more adverse effects on cars. Before it snowed regularly in Vancouver, people would recommend a west coast car over one from Alberta or Ontario, or anywhere in between. This is because roads in more temperate environments rarely need to be salted and gravelled. Salt and grit from wintery roads will degrade a car faster.

Another consideration is, has the car seen much action on backroads? Consider taking a test drive first, to see how the shocks are doing. It might not be a problem, but it’s possible the suspension is in worse shape than if a car has stuck to major highways it’s whole life. You’ll be able tell by how bumpy or smooth the ride is.

Media perception

It’s hard to ignore what mainstream media and trending headlines say. And it’s no different with car brands. I try to base my decisions on facts, such as, number or percentage of failed parts, rather than perception on the reliability of the brand. Do your homework and apply a critical eye. Comparing like to like, when possible, will paint you a better picture of the options.

Going the distance

Diesel and gasoline powered vehicles have historically been favoured for their ability to reliably travel further than alternative vehicles. But they are on their way out, from higher gas prices and taxation, to the rising technology of cleaner solutions and rebates. Many manufacturers have already committed to phasing out internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles over the next few decades.

Electric vehicles (EV) now have range comparable to ICE vehicles

With 300-600+ km per full charge, EVs easily compete with ICE vehicles, which range on average 500-600 km per tank of gas. Charging networks have been expanding steadily across North America over the past few years to keep up with the trend of increasing volume of EVs on the roads. About 50,000 stations were estimated across North America at the end of 2021 (42,000 in the USA and 6,723 in Canada).

Comparing resupply, charging stations vs gas stations

I recently mapped out driving from Vancouver to Fernie by EV and how it would compare to driving my ICE car. Gas stations are still much more accessible, but I was surprised to see how many public EV chargers are on the route now.

In order to make the trip, I would need to add about 4 hours of charging time on the way, and spend a night around the midpoint with the car plugged in. The 4 hours is not much more than the stopping we’d do anyway for gas, food, and washroom visits. One overnight is also reasonable for a 10+ hour driving distance. Total cost for using public chargers would be less than a quarter the amount spent on gas for the same distance too.

If you’re sticking to major roadways, distance is a minimal limiter with EVs. But charge time is a constraint regardless of where you’re going. Companies like Chargepoint and FLO are leading a path to improved EV charging infrastructure, increasing accessibility of EV travel. While companies like StoreDot and Tesla duke it out on manufacturing faster charging batteries.

4×4 access?

If one of the reasons you’re going for a drive is to access remote locations, you’re probably going to end up on some backroads. In BC, having AWD or 4×4 capability on those roads, especially in the winter time, adds a lot of safety and piece of mind. Especially if you’re anything less than an exceptional driver. This is a major reason why hybrid trucks and SUVs are such a popular choice.

Assessing Environmental and Financial Cost

I own a car, have been driving since I was 16 years old, and have spent countless hours in work and rental vehicles. But I am no car expert. These summaries are geared towards casual drivers, like myself, to help consider what your options are and help you make informed decisions.

Option 1 – no change

You may be thinking: “I could hold on to my current car, drive it into the ground until it has to be turned into scrap, then see what the options are.” There are many who claim used cars are better for the environment. But what is the real cost?

I know keeping my current car running would have a monetary cost. There are the regular expenses of owning a car: insurance, regular maintenance, oil changes, tire changes. Then there is the cost of maintaining an older car and replacing failing parts. I just took my vehicle for a check-up and the mechanic said it’s in great shape and should last many more years. I’ll assume an average of $2,000 every couple of years, on top of those regular costs, for general upkeep and replacement parts for an aging vehicle. That’s roughly what I will have put into it this year, on top of my normal vehicle expenses.

Then there are fuel costs. If I’m driving between 5,000 and 10,000 km a year, at an average of 4.5 gal / 100 mi, that gives us $1,200 to $2,400 on gas annually with today’s rates of $1.95 / L.

For the environmental cost, using the US EPA calculator, 10,000 km at 4.5 gal / 100 mi results in 2.5 metric tons of CO2 per year. Totalling 25 metric tons of CO2 over the next 10 years. That’s equivalent to one third of the energy needed to power an average (US) home for the same duration.

On the day to day, holding on to your current car probably doesn’t affect any change. Other than increasing gas prices contributing to increased annual cost. And maybe some tire slashings to deal with in the next 10 years, if that escalates in your region.

Option 2 – upgrade to a newer vehicle

Newer cars are generally more efficient than older ones. The equivalent RAV4, gasoline powered, 2022 model has a fuel economy of 3.3 gallons / 100 mi. Driving a gas-powered vehicle, but a newer one, would lower my vehicle emissions by 28%. This still supports internal combustion engine vehicle production though.

Hybrid vehicles burn even less gasoline. There are regular hybrids (HEVs), and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). If you are driving less than 30 km at a time, a PHEV can save you from gas and emissions. But if, like me, most of your driving is for longer distance highway driving, you’re going to be primarily using the gas engine. For example, if you drive from Vancouver to Whistler and back in your plug-in hybrid over the weekend, the trip will be about 70% powered by the non-electric engine. HEVs and PHEVs do get better mileage than their equivalent ICE vehicles.

An electric car is the most efficient way to decrease carbon emissions from your vehicle, because it doesn’t burn any fossil fuels to drive. It’s footprint then, is mainly determined by the type of energy you use to charge it. BC’s electrical grid is 87% hydro, a low-carbon energy source, which makes going electric a popular choice in the province. The main drawback, most of these cars aren’t even available right now. EVs are also typically more expensive than their hybrid or ICE cousins.

Option 3 – going car-less

Okay, how about ditching car ownership completely? Many people who live in cities don’t own cars.

One option, is to gear up with electric cargo bikes and carrying equipment. For longer trips, you can add a little more planning and rent a vehicle or map out a ride share and public transit route.

Here are some considerations for going car-less:

• Electric cargo bikes can go for around $2000 each;
• Outfitting bikes with carrying gear, budget a few hundred dollars, or at least $1000 if you want to carry an extra battery;
• $100 budget for a tune-up each year per bike;
• Car rental daily rates go for between $100 (evo) and $330 (Zerocar).

Electric bikes

E-bikes have varying ranges and I won’t do all the math here today. Many others, like Juiced Bikes have done their own assessments. For our purposes, we’ll assume you can do all your around-town jobs and commuting in less than 50 km per go. Therefore, most E-bike options will enable you to get your running around done on just one charge on an electric bicycle using mid-level power.

Diversifying transportation options

There are lots of car share options, and an increasing amount of EV rentals too. In the Lower Mainland, public transit keeps getting better with no sign of stopping. Translink has steadily continued expanding on Greater Vancouver’s skytrain network with the Evergreen line and now the new Broadway line. Delivery services (many by bike courier) are increasing in the cities too. It’s only getting easier to live a car-free life if you’re committed to living in the hubs.

Modifying lifestyle and staying local also decreases what you need to spend on car rental costs.

What’s it gonna cost me?

Option	Up-front cost	Annual cost (insurance, maintenance, etc.)	Annual cost (fuel)	10-year cost	10-year carbon emissions
No change (2008 RAV4 2.4l)	$0	$3,500	$2,400	$59,000	25 metric tons CO2
New combustion car (2022 RAV4 LE)	$35,000	$2,500	$1,387	$73,867	18 metric tons CO2
New hybrid car (2022 RAV4 PRIME SE)	$48,500	$2,530	$971	$83,507	10 metric tons CO2
New electric vehicle (2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Preferred AWD Long Range)	$58,000	$2,530	$0	$83,300	0
Going car-less (2x RadRunner 2 and Zerocar rentals)	$6,000	$200 + $9,600 (in rentals)	$0	$104,000	0

Things get a little more complicated when you take into account the manufacturing emissions. As a ballpark, producing a new car costs about 12 metric tons of CO2, and a new bicycle costs about 0.25 metric tons of CO2.

If you’re interested in doing the math for your own situation, my calculations and numbers are publicly available here.

Which company do I want to support?

As individuals, where we spend our money may not account for much, but similar to reducing personal carbon footprints by a few percentage points – something is better than nothing. We need to stop burning fossil fuels, and manufacturing and transportation industries are large contributors. While many global car manufacturers have committed to phase out fossil fuel powered vehicles, many major companies still have not.

I want to support companies who are on the right side of the climate change fight, and I think you do too. So who to support?

There are a lot of questions you can ask when making this decision. There are a variety of new companies out there innovating on net zero transportation solutions. Big players in the old ICE vehicle game are investing in a net zero future.

Who are sustainability leaders? Which companies are just greenwashing? Or have a history of supporting fossil fuel companies? What about the company’s climate justice policies? Do they have any? Are hydrogen fuel cell cars for real?

It comes down to what’s right for you.