Thanks to Yann M. from Washington, D.C. for this fantastic question!
My short answer would be, no, it would not be better for the environment to purchase an old ICE vehicle over an EV. I’ve focused on the environmental impacts of an ICE vehicle versus an EV in this post but I should note that there are various reasons to change to an EV, see the ‘Why Buy an EV‘ post for more details.
It is true that battery production for EVs are the major contributor for greater emissions in EV production versus ICE vehicle production. Overall, an EV will have fewer emissions over its lifetime than an ICE vehicle, to what extent will depend on the electricity source from which you charge your car.
Ford recently released a study in partnership with the University of Michigan that found that light-duty EVs have approximately 64% lower cradle-to-grave life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions than ICE vehicles on average across the United States.
Source
You should also think about fuel efficiency. ICE vehicle fuel efficiency has continued to improve over time. If you are purchasing a 15 year old ICE vehicle that gets 15 mpg, your emissions will be significantly greater than if you purchased a new or used EV. The Ford and University of Michigan study touches on that fact that the type of ICE you compare an EV to will change the emissions comparison but, regardless of ICE vehicle type, an EV is better for the environment.
What makes understanding the true environmental impact of an EV challenging is that you need to look at electricity sources and this varies by state. The Nuclear Energy Institute compiled an overview of electricity generation by state that can be seen here but I should note that generation in the state is not the most accurate way to know where the electricity you actually use comes from since some states export power to and others import power from other states.
The EPA has a fantastic ‘Power Profiler‘ site where you can see details on the actual power provided to your region of the US to further understand and estimate the emissions that would be generated from charging an EV from the grid.
It is worth noting that the power generation profile is dynamic. Renewable power generation growth will lower the emissions from an EV and this would be something you would see change during your EV ownership, not in 50 years.
Another note would be that power generation is regulated and emissions are controlled at the site. When you drive an ICE vehicle, emissions are everywhere you drive. Have you ever been waiting to cross a street and you almost can’t breath because a high emission vehicle or truck is passing? This would not occur with an EV.
If you are really focused on being green and have the ability to install solar panels at your house, you can use that solar power to charge your vehicle and your emissions from driving will be significantly less than an ICE vehicle. Of course, you should also account for the emissions from solar panel production.
I should note that Electrify America has an initiative to integrate solar into some of its public charging stations so that you could be using 100% (or close to 100%) renewable power to charge your vehicle.
Additional References:
- CNBC issued a detailed report on this titled ‘Producing electric vehicles leads to significantly more emissions than producing petrol cars … which is mostly from the battery production.‘ You can read the full article on this here.
- The EPA has also released research on this that has taken into account typical electric power sources in the US, ‘Myth #5: Electric vehicles are worse for the climate than gasoline cars because of battery manufacturing.‘ You can see the full details here.