Electric Vehicle Sustainability: A Detailed Case Study Analysis

This case study critically evaluates the sustainability of the Electric Vehicle (EV) industry and its role in reducing carbon emissions and slowing down climate change. It analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of electric vehicles, the growth of the EV market in the UK, and factors influencing consumer adoption. The study highlights the importance of EVs in reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions while acknowledging the carbon footprint associated with battery production. Furthermore, it includes a reflective analysis of personal lifestyle choices and suggests ways to align with sustainability ideals, such as using electric vehicles, promoting carpooling, supporting restaurants with waste management practices, planting trees, and adopting solar energy. The conclusion emphasizes the potential of EVs as a solution for environmental protection and the UK's commitment to achieving zero-carbon emissions by 2050, accessible with more solved assignments and past papers on Desklib.

Building A Sustainable
Organisation

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................3
PART A...........................................................................................................................................3
Conduct detailed research of the EV industry and critically evaluate whether they are truly
sustainable. Are EVs the answer to reducing carbon emissions and slowing down climate
change?........................................................................................................................................3
PART B...........................................................................................................................................6
Examine your current lifestyle and write a reflective document on how you could comply with
the sustainability ideals?..............................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8
Online-.............................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
Corporate sustainability is the effect a business has on environment as well as upon
society (Sustainability, 2021). Today, most of the companies focus to become sustainable
changer within their industry and try to produce those products and services which are
sustainable in nature and provide benefit to environment and society. In simple words,
sustainability is the concept where organisations use resources in such a manner which will
reduce the wastage of resources and use them in such a manner which is beneficial for both
environment and society (Purvis, Mao and Robinson, 2019). The following report covers
detailed identification of Electric Vehicle industry and critical evaluation whether they are truly
sustainable. This report also covers the role of EVs in reducing carbon emissions and slowing
down climate change. Beside this, it also covers examination of current lifestyle for reflective
document how to comply with the sustainability ideals.
Main Body
PART A
Conduct detailed research of the EV industry and critically evaluate whether they are truly
sustainable. Are EVs the answer to reducing carbon emissions and slowing down climate
change?
Electric vehicles are the new and trending concept in the automotive industry where
companies manufacture those vehicles which run through electricity or electric batteries and
refuse to use petrol and diesel (Sanguesa and et. al., 2021). Some of the popular companies to
manufacture electric vehicles are Nissan, Ford, Tesla and few other companies. Using electric
cars on roads is a great solution to reduce air pollution which is caused by carbon emissions and
greenhouse gasses which is produced by petrol and diesel cars. There are many advantages as
well as disadvantages of using electric cars from a customer’s point of view. Few of the
advantages are no gas required by electric vehicles because it is charged by electricity. It is more
convenient due to easy recharge; it is eco-friendly and did not produce any harmful gases for
environment. It is also found that better technology in electric cars is also one of the reasons
which attract customers to purchase these cars. It also requires less maintenance. On the other
hand, few of the disadvantages of using electric vehicles are less number of recharge points; the

initial investment is high, short driving range and low speed, longer recharge time and few others
(What is an Electric Car?, 2022).
Overview of Electric Vehicle Industry-
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reported that total
manufacturing of electric vehicles are recorded as 224,011 in the year 2021. The aim of UK’s
government is to stop them sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2030. Due to COVID
pandemic, a decline in electric vehicles manufacturing and sales is seen because in this pandemic
customers shift their needs and wants from purchasing their vehicles and other entertainment
item to purchase basic necessity items first (Li, Khajepour and Song, 2019). Hence, the shift in
purchasing habit of customers impacted the industry. The Electric Vehicle industry is growing
now and a record of 190,727 new electric cars were registered in UK at the end of 2021 (EV car
manufacturing jumps in the UK but overall production sinks to 65-year low, 2022). SMMT also
mentioned that 2021 is recognised most successful year for the electric vehicle industry because
largest number of registrations for electric vehicle is seen in this year as compared to previous
five years.
There are two types of vehicles in this industry; first one is plug-in electric vehicles, these
are the vehicles which run by charging through electricity at electric charging point. Another
type of vehicle in this industry is hybrid electric vehicle which consist of all those vehicles which
use batteries to power their electric motor (Kapustin and Grushevenko, 2020). UK recorded that
the sales of their plug in electric vehicles were recorded increase of 140 percent year-on-year
(Electric vehicle market in the United Kingdom - Statistics & Facts, 2021). On the other hand, it
is also recorded that the sale of hybrid electric vehicles is increased by 12 percent. There are
various factors which help to grow this industry and few of the factors are customer’s concern
regarding their environment and society, secondly customers also get attracted by the new and
innovative technologies used in electric vehicles nowadays. A new survey report of SMMT by
Savanta ComRes confirms that 41% of customers are attracted to low running cost, 29% of
customers concern to improve their environment. The same survey also reflects that there are
few of the factors which are holding buyers back to purchase electric vehicles. 52% of customers
refuse to buy electric vehicles due to their higher purchase prices, 44% choose lack of local
charging points are one of the biggest reasons for not purchasing the EV (Billions invested in
electric vehicle range but nearly half of UK buyers still think 2035 too soon to switch, 2020).

38% of customers are having fear of being caught short on longer journeys. According to SMMT
and Frost and Sullivan, zero-emission- capable UK new car market requires 1.7 million public
charging points by the end of this year. It is also found from the researches that the emission
which is created during the production of an electric car is higher than a conventional car and
this is due to manufacturing lithium ion batteries which is used in electric cars. The industry is
focusing for developing the technology for manufacturing electric car batteries so that less or no
emissions will be created while manufacturing these batteries (Benefits of electric cars on the
environment, 2022).
From the above detailed analysis of the Electric industry in UK it is critically evaluated
that the main aim of EV industry is to reduce carbon- emissions from environment and the
vehicles run through electric batteries and by charging through electric power points. Hence,
there is no use of fuel and diesel which is good for maintaining environment in good condition.
Secondly, it is also critically evaluated that 29% of customers wanted to purchase electric vehicle
with the main aim of saving their environment to reduce carbon- emissions. On the other hand, it
is also evaluated that some on the carbon- emissions get produced while manufacturing electric
cars. Hence, electric car is a solution to reduce carbon emissions from environment but it is not
totally sustainable. The electric vehicles will be considered as totally sustainable when there is
no production of carbon emission in the process of manufacturing these cars.
Importance of electric cars to reduce carbon-emissions
The main advantage of using more electric cars is to reduce air pollution and maintain the
quality of air to breath in towns and cities. There is no tailpipe in electric cars which did not
produce carbon dioxide emissions when the electric cars are driving on roads. A single electric
car on the road can save an average of 1.5 million grams of carbon dioxide (Benefits of electric
cars on the environment, 2022). The UK government and local councils set a target that they will
ban the petrol and diesel cars by the year 2040 with the main aim to reduce carbon emissions to
zero by the year 2050 where electric cars will play a big role to achieve this aim of UK. The
industry is also focusing to reuse and recycle the batteries of electric vehicles. The electric
vehicles are also playing important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the US
transportation system.
Role of electric vehicle in slowing down climate changes-

The main reason of global climate change is production of greenhouse gasses in the
environment through cars run by petrol and diesel because they release about 1.6 billion tons on
GHG into atmosphere each year (Reduce Climate Change, 2022). Due to this reason the layer of
atmosphere which is called stratosphere is getting harmed and this is the layer which protects
humans from ultraviolet radiation from sun. Hence, more carbon emissions in the environment
through petrol and diesel cars will impact negative upon harming stratosphere layer and due to
this damage the climate get changed and the earth become warmer (Mahmud and et. al., 2018).
Hence, the solution is to use electric cars and save the environment and climatic changes for
human benefits. When more electric vehicles are seen on roads than they will produce least or no
carbon emissions into the air which further help the environment to maintain the quality of air to
breath and also help the environment to slowing down the climate changes.
PART B
Examine your current lifestyle and write a reflective document on how you could comply with
the sustainability ideals?
My current lifestyle is busy and I would like to enjoy my life with full happiness for
which I am focusing on my studies as well as I travel for main the purpose of entertainment. I
would like to go out with my friends as well as with my family members. I like to eat food at
restaurants and enjoy long drives with friends. For the time which I spend at home, I would like
to complete my academic projects and assignments. I am also focused to perform some
sustainable activities within my daily routine. For example, I would like to use electric vehicles
whenever I choose to travel from one place to another. Secondly, I must make sure that when I
choose outings with my friends and family members than we will not choose separate vehicles
for every individual. Instead of choosing separate vehicles for every individual we would like to
travel within a same vehicle like big vans to travel together. This will help to reduce fuel and
diesel usage and further used to reduce carbon-emissions within the environment.
I also choose to eat from those restaurants which are focused to waste management
activities. I avoid to waste food as well as suggest my known ones to do the same and order only
that quantity of food items which are actually required by them and which they can consume
without wastage. I am also having interest in growing more plants and trees near the area where I
live. Recently, I have also decided to use solar system for generating electricity for my home

usage. Hence, I am concern about my environment and society and also like to aware others to
become more aware and concern for their environment and society.
Conclusion
From the above information it is concluded that corporate sustainable is the concept
where companies try to manufacture those products and services which are eco-friendly and
benefits the environment as well as society. Electric vehicles are considered as one of the best
solution to reduce carbon-emissions from environment and there are various factors which attract
customers to use electric cars as compared to petrol or diesel cars. These factors are
environmental concerns, advanced technology, low maintenance and few others. It is also
concluded that few of the customers refuses to use electric vehicles due to their initial high
investment, less charging points and many others. The electric vehicle is having great impact
upon slowing down the climatic changes. It is also concluded that UK is focusing to achieve
their aim appropriately which is related to protect their environment and become sustainable
country to manage and use their resources appropriately. UK aim to ban petrol and diesel cars by
2040 and become zero- carbon- emission country till 2050.

References
Books and Journals
Kapustin, N.O. and Grushevenko, D.A., 2020. Long-term electric vehicles outlook and their
potential impact on electric grid. Energy Policy, 137, p.111103.
Li, Z., Khajepour, A. and Song, J., 2019. A comprehensive review of the key technologies for
pure electric vehicles. Energy, 182, pp.824-839.
Mahmud, K. and et. al., 2018. Integration of electric vehicles and management in the internet of
energy. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 82, pp.4179-4203.
Purvis, B., Mao, Y. and Robinson, D., 2019. Three pillars of sustainability: in search of
conceptual origins. Sustainability science, 14(3), pp.681-695.
Sanguesa, J.A. and et. al., 2021. A review on electric vehicles: Technologies and
challenges. Smart Cities, 4(1), pp.372-404.
Online-
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%20possible%20sense,environmental%20degradation%2C%20and%20social%20resources/
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https://www.edfenergy.com/for-home/energywise/electric-cars-and-environment/
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