Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past few years, obsession with energy transition probably won’t escape you.

Electric cars, hybrids or at hydrogen : all solutions would be beneficial to reduce CO emissions at any cost₂ transport sector. As a reminder, this is about a third of global CO emissions₂. But according to the state authorities, it would be necessary to quickly ban the thermal car and replace it with a new electric car when it is functional… What if we were simply on the wrong track?

Abandoning the thermal machine: a false good idea?

Japanese researchers from Kyushu Imperial University looked into this question. Keep your old thermos for longer, they say would be good for the environmentmuch more than a forced transition to a new electric car.

Thus, these scientists confirm, with numbers, the idea of ​​common sense: the carbon footprint of a car is not limited to exhaust gas emissions, but junk cars still in good working order is not a good idea.

The battery is usually the first source of questions when considering an electric car. But we’ll see, generally you’ll never have to worry about it! https://t.co/6LPy0NKKY4

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Energy transition: a counterproductive measure

According to this study, which looked at cars put on the market in Japan between 1990 and 2016, if current cars stayed in service 10% longer before scrapping, their CO2 footprint₂ would be decreased by 30.7 million tons. Because even if they continue to produce emissions while driving, they will always be less polluting than mass-produced new cars.

There is no gearbox, batteries with a warranty of several years, brake pads are used less… This is why an electric car has a lower maintenance frequency than a car with an internal combustion engine. https://t.co/MepIOtv9NX

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“This means we can reduce our CO emissions₂ simply by keeping and driving our cars longer”concludes Shigemi Kagawa, a professor at Kyushu University, who clarifies that “If the car is relatively new and has good fuel efficiency, the effect is even greater. The next time you’re thinking about buying a new car, try asking yourself if you could drive your current car for a while longer. »

The question of state incentives

The government wants to increase access to the environmental bonus for certain models. Dacia Spring may be concerned. https://t.co/tebysKWwMu

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Japanese researchers also point to government incentives to scrap cars with gasoline engines in good working order. In addition to draining the state budget, measures such as the conversion bonus would simply be counterproductive. They would call an increase of more than 42 million tons carbon footprint of the automotive sector. Thus, destroying an existing vehicle to produce a new one goes against any environmental approach, however laudable.

Source: Kyushu Imperial University (Japan)