Sustainability of EVs: A Climate Change Case Study - BA Business

This case study examines the sustainability of electric vehicles (EVs) and their impact on reducing climate change. It analyzes the electric and hybrid vehicle industry, evaluating their effects on carbon emissions and overall sustainability. The report discusses both the advantages, such as reduced pollution and lower running costs, and disadvantages, including high battery replacement costs and potential chemical pollution from battery production. It also explores lifestyle changes individuals can adopt to comply with sustainability principles, such as reducing meat consumption, saving energy, and minimizing plastic use. The study concludes by emphasizing the need for a comprehensive and well-designed EV development strategy to ensure genuine sustainability in the global economy. Desklib provides students with access to this case study and many other resources.

Building Sustainable
Organisation

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART A...........................................................................................................................................1
An analysis of the electric vehicle and hybrid vehicle industry and their impacts on
sustainability, reducing carbon emissions and declining climate change..............................1
PART B............................................................................................................................................5
Examining the current lifestyle and changes that could be done to comply with the
sustainability ideas..................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Sustainability in business refers to the reduction of negative impacts of the organization on
the environment, community and economy to the lowest levels, and enhancing the organization’s
positive work towards them. The sustainability in a business helps to reduce the ill effects of
business activities such as pollution, degradation of resources, amputation of wildlife,
deforestation, etc. on the people and environment. With the help of overall sustainability in
business a company tries to reduce the negative impacts by creating well-being of people and
environment. The report will be analyzing hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles industry and their
overall impacts on the sustainability, reduction of carbon emissions as well as climate change.
The report will be demonstrating whether electric vehicles are truly sustainable or not by
evaluating the pros and cons of the EV industry. Moreover, it will also demonstrate an
examination of the current lifestyle of an individual and what changes can be adopted by an
individual to comply with the sustainability ideas.
PART A
An analysis of the electric vehicle and hybrid vehicle industry and their impacts on sustainability,
reducing carbon emissions and declining climate change
The illustration about sustainability in business were provided by many researchers,
scholars and scientists along with their differing opinions on sustainability and what does it
really means (Ahmed, Qaed and Almurbati, 2020). In fact, a sustainable business can be defined
as the ability of an organization to lower down its negative effects on the planet health,
community and the economy as minimum as possible and to maximize positive social,
environmental and economic benefits.
Electric vehicles are a form of mechanical transportation vehicle that relies on electricity
and charging connections, which include batteries or fuel mortars mixed with electric vehicles.
Sustainable development of the electric car industry highlights over social and economic benefits
to people for longer time. According to scientists there exist few elements such as government,
market and industry that contribute to the manufacturin and sale of the electric car industry and
its sustainability practices. It could have an impact on the success of the EV industry as they
have the maximum role and responsibilities for ownership, community health, subsidiaries, fuel
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economy, investment, and research and development of electric vehicles businesses and their
part in making sustainability.
If the major participants in the automotive electric vehicle industry such as government,
suppliers, communities and individuals fulfil responsibilities by themselves, by mutual co-
operation and contribution the electric automotive companies may provide opportunities and
greater chances for sustainable growth and improvements (Amaeshi and et. al. eds., 2019).
Sustainability in business is a major practice due to changing climatic conditions and
increasing awareness among people about the impacts of organizational activities on the
environment. Climate change can be described as the result of human activities that have forced
earth’s warming and weather conditions going extreme that threaten the very existing life on
earth by rising sea levels, food shortages, wildfires, droughts, migration, floods, and so on. It is
considered one of the greatest challenges which is faced by world in the 21st century, according
to a report by the World Health Organization.
A major contributor to climate change is the vehicular emission and production of
greenhouse gases because they eliminate the ozone’s capacity to reduce UV rays. The main
causes of greenhouse pollutants consist of carbon with dual oxygen bonds and carbon with single
oxygen bond that reacts-with and deplete the ozone layer, reducing their ability to reflect harmful
radiation and the sun's heat that stops and reduces harmful rays of sun from entering the
atmosphere. The production of electric vehicles is becoming a new global trend that can help
lowering down of total carbon emissions and lowering the negative impacts of vehicular
transportation on changing climate as a whole.
The electric car industry has become one of the world's most popular technology giants and
innovative tech industries. There are innumerable cars that contribute to high levels of pollution
every year and electric cars have become one of the most important innovations to reduce the
overall impact on climate change. According to a study conducted by the European Union, the
transportation industry accounts for 28 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions and 13% of
carbon monoxide emissions that are a major cause of climate change and depletion of ozone
layer. These has caused subsequent decline in the health of overall environment and has
hampered the ecological balance (Borland and et. al., 2018). Therefore, the economy is focused
on the development and development of electric vehicles in order to avoid and reduce all
pollution caused by the use of cars around the world.
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There are some side effects of electric vehicles as shown by recent research as follows:
 High cost replacement: Replacing existing vehicles will generate mechanical waste in
the world because their presence of petrol engines will not be used to produce electric
vehicles which will create waste for old cars to produce new cars. In addition, 100 grams
of carbon dioxide will be heavier pollutants if millions-trillions of electric vehicle parts
and batteries are manufactured.
 Battery production lead to chemical pollution and resource depletion: The proliferation
of chemicals such as magnesium, Cobalt, lithium, and other minerals needed for battery
production homogenous energy guzzlers, which require extra energy in comparison to
producing a standard car (Budsaratragoon and Jitmaneeroj, 2019).
 Similarly unsustainable as traditional cars: Many experts have clarified that electric
vehicles may not be running on gasoline engine but the production of electronic batteries
and electricity that would require a large number of chemicals and minerals would lead to
major demolition in the future resources.
 High energy emissions and heat: A research done by the Swedish Environmental
Research Centre estimates those electric vehicle batteries needs a lot of power from the
electric industry, producing 90 to 95 grams of CO2 to power a unit battery.
Electric vehicles offer a range of benefits to support the sustainable growth of an
organization that are as follows:
 Reduce pollution: Electric vehicles do not produce huge amounts of carbon monoxide or
nitrogen dioxide which reduces the total pollution created by using mortar vehicles
(Bunclark and Barcellos-Paula, 2021).
 Driving Range: Electric cars come with a range of between 250 and 350 km by single
charging, but few Nissan and Tesla models can travel more than 500 miles by charging
due to their new electronic invention in automotive industry. Reaching such a distance
with gasoline based vehicle is almost out of thought because they are limited by the
actual base of their fuel engines that support limited distance travel with full fueling.
 Cost: The maintenance and utilization of energy costs in electric vehicles is much lower
compared to fuel-based vehicles and the combustion fuel. This helps to build social
welfare and improve economic conditions of the country.
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 Efficiency: Fuel consumption of electric vehicle manufacturing equipment is low as
compared to the petrol vehicles due to the low demand for energy for electric vehicle
mortars.
 Reliability: Due to the low cost of repairing of electric vehicles it is very reliable as they
are made of lightweight materials, have a short break, have low aging and have a very
low chance of fuel leakage and gasoline engine explosion.
 Charging time and cost: Although electric cars consume up to 4.5 to 7 hours to fully
power the batteries and refuelling is relatively easy, some larger models are able to
charge within an hour or more.
 Luxury: Electric cars are considered luxury due to the lack of unusual noise and vibration
which makes them more comfortable than traditional cars (Drempetic, Klein and
Zwergel, 2020).
 Simplicity: Electronic car engines are small and cramped so they don’t require cooling
parts that use CFC which is an air conditioner, and do not need other parts such as gear
box, engine shock absorbers, clutches etc. reducing unwanted sound and air pollution.
 Quantity and weight: Batteries are heavier as well as consumes less area but they are
much qualitied than fuel tanks and the complete fire proof system reduces the total frame
weight compared to conventional vehicles.
There are lot of pros and cons about the stability and stability of electric vehicles industry in
reducing carbon emissions and declining pollution (Golicic and et. al., 2020). Therefore, it can be
explained that a need for reshaping and rethinking in order to create such vehicles that can truly
bring about sustainability changes in the global economy. The electric vehicle development
strategy must be very well designed by understanding and evaluating the impact of such types of
vehicles on changing climate and total carbon production in general.
PART B
Examining the current lifestyle and changes that could be done to comply with the sustainability
ideas
We make sense of sustainability and live better lives to save our upcoming generations by
building a healthier world around a better culture, economy, environment, community etc. I
began to understand about my daily lifestyle and its consequences on the world so far my carbon
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footprint, emissions, pollution and ill effects on climate can be declined for deveoping a better
living planet. Remarkably, I processed many bad practices that increased carbon emissions,
plastic pollution, gree house gases in the environment including my eating habits and car use etc.
I have come to realize the importance of stability in recent times and have maneuverer my habits,
such as eating less meat, switching off power if not necessary and using public transportation. I
think small changes can help reduce the negative effects on the environment (Linna, 2019).
Previously I used to drive a car even to nearby places that may be at the walkable distances. I
adapted my habits & began riding my bicycle to get to nearby places or to walk. I started
minimise of the usage of energy, the waste creation, the eating habits and ditched the plastic use
when not necessary. I discovered some basic techniques that can help us to live sustainable lives
that are elaborated below:
 Reuse and recycle: I began to recycle things by recycling or buying recycled materials to
minimize the waste (Tost and et. al., 2018).
 Save water: By using a bucket and ditching shower I reduce overall water wastage and
consumption in daily life which can aid me to grow sustainably.
 Eating less meat: The animal agricultural and meat manufacturers are among the major
participants to changing climate and pollution as their emissions are highest contribution
to CO gas in the ecology. The emissions count about 87% of the total Carbon Monoxide
released in the atmosphere. By ditching meat the total environmental harm caused by its
cooking and manufacturing can be reduced.
 Energy saving: I started saving energy at home by turning off the light during the day,
lowering the room temperature, not using AC, turning off the electrical appliances, etc.
(Wolff and et. al., 2020).
 Eliminate the use of single plastic: The reusable materials like metallic water bottles,
bags made of paper or jute, etc. can help lowering the impact of plastic pollutants on the
world and it will help to lower down carbon footprint.
CONCLUSION
The above report has been concluding that business sustainability in business is the most
common trend in modern life. The report analyses the viability of the electric vehicles being truly
sustainable. In addition, it analyses and identifies positive consequences of the use of electronic
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vehicles like as lowering carbon concentration and low cost production etc. This can lower down
Carbon concentration and create a sustainable planet. In addition, it has been demonstrating on
cons of electric vehicles such as environmental degradation, consequences of mining, the ill
effects of production chemicals, heat leakage and creating waste of mechanical parts that makes
EV production unsustainable. Finally, the report examines the individual's current lifestyle and
how attainment of sustainability be done.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ahmed, Z. A., Qaed, F. and Almurbati, N., 2020, November. Enhancing Museums’
Sustainability Through Digitalization. In 2020 Second International Sustainability and
Resilience Conference: Technology and Innovation in Building Designs (51154) (pp. 1-
4). IEEE.
Amaeshi, K. and et. al. eds., 2019. Incorporating sustainability in management education: An
interdisciplinary approach. Springer.
Borland, H and et. al., 2018. Creating theory for business strategies for sustainability and climate
change: Transitional and transformational strategies and ecocentric dynamic capabilities.
In Business strategies for sustainability (pp. 65-80). Routledge.
Budsaratragoon, P. and Jitmaneeroj, B., 2019. Measuring causal relations and identifying critical
drivers for corporate sustainability: The quadruple bottom line approach. Measuring
Business Excellence.
Bunclark, L. and Barcellos-Paula, L., 2021. Sustainability reporting for sustainable supply chain
management in Peru. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 27. pp.1458-1472.
Drempetic, S., Klein, C. and Zwergel, B., 2020. The influence of firm size on the ESG score:
Corporate sustainability ratings under review. Journal of Business Ethics, 167(2). pp.333-
360.
Golicic, S.L. and et. al., 2020. A global meaning of supply chain social sustainability. Production
Planning & Control, 31(11-12). pp.988-1004.
Linna, T., 2019. Insolvency proceedings from a sustainability perspective. International
Insolvency Review, 28(2), pp.210-232.
Tost, M. and et. al., 2018. The state of environmental sustainability considerations in
mining. Journal of cleaner production, 182. pp.969-977.
Wolff, S. and et. al., 2020. Transforming automotive companies into sustainability leaders: A
concept for managing current challenges. Journal of Cleaner Production, 276. p.124179.
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