Electric car companies are outdoing themselves with ever newer ideas, innovations and speeds to match internal combustion cars. The problem is that they were supposed to be, above all, greener than their petrol counterparts, and more and more studies are showing that this is not necessarily the case.
Electric car production - what are the different stages of production?
Electric cars have caused a lot of controversy, mainly in terms of their production and what happens to them before they hit the streets. The production process is similar to that of combustion cars. Production lines deal with the creation of the body (including body parts, chassis and roof) in individual sub-assemblies, and assembly takes place on several parallel lines:
- car electronics (body wiring, connection of drive control module and radiator);
- interior (floor, seats, carpet, console and dashboard);
- installation of air-conditioning, heating, circulation of air outside and inside the vehicle;
- battery and battery assembly;
- installation of glazing and mechanical fluids, checking door systems;
- quality control.
Thanks to the divisions and the use of the latest technology, the car takes less time to make. Compared to combustion cars, the assembly line is shorter by the stage of joining the exhaust system, which is responsible for releasing the components of petrol combustion into the atmosphere.
The entire production process operates on a zero waste basis. In this way, no by-products are produced in the factory. The production of waste is also minimised as much as possible. Most of the residues can be reused or are recyclable. 
Which stage of the electric car manufacturing process is most damaging and why?
A definite plus and advantage of electric cars over combustion cars is that they do not emit toxic exhaust fumes, greenhouse gases and CO2 into the environment. The problem and most controversial topic is the production of equipment, in particular the batteries that power electric cars.
The lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles are described as energy dirty, as production is in countries that are counted among the biggest polluters of the planet. Another problem is charging the cars. However, it is not about the electricity itself, but how it is obtained. Electric cars produced in Poland use electricity that is generated from coal, as is the case in Germany, China and Thailand, for example. This means that fossil fuels are used anyway to generate the electricity needed for an electric car not to produce exhaust fumes.
For the use of electric cars to make sense, the energy source should be a renewable resource and not generate waste in the form of exhaust fumes. The production of batteries itself generates very fine steel dust, which remains suspended in the air. In addition, as with any lithium-ion battery, there are CO2 emissions. Due to their size, car batteries generate more of it. Opponents of electric cars have another objection to batteries, and that is to the materials from which they are made. They contain many valuable and rare raw materials, especially metals such as nickel, cobalt, lithium and graphite. Their degradation can cause enormous environmental damage. 
To what extent does electric car production negatively impact the environment?
Electric car production around the world is taking place in several key locations. China is the largest exporter of electric vehicles, with nearly 500,000 electrics leaving the Middle Kingdom for domestic markets in 2021. Germany is second with 230,000, and the US produces around 110,000 electric cars a year. The problem with the production of cars in the first two countries is that the energy needed to produce electrics is derived from fossil fuels, mainly coal. This means that the production of each electric car is linked to the release of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Therefore, the biggest problem is where to produce, the energy policy adopted, how to produce energy and how to use it to build electric cars.
Production of electric cars in Poland is set to start in 2024. This is the planned start of the construction of the Izera, an electric car of Polish production. At the moment, power batteries are being developed in the country, which, unfortunately, are also not clean.
Does an electric car produce a carbon footprint?
Electric car sceptics are not so in favour of zero-emission vehicles. The crux of the conflict over declaring the cars green is the carbon footprint they leave behind. According to calculations, the battery found in a 100 kWh Tesla S leaves a carbon footprint of 17.2 tonnes before it even hits the roads. A study of the life cycle of car batteries has shown that huge amounts of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere during their production. In addition, each kilowatt-hour of capacity is approximately 150-200 kg of carbon dioxide given off. Such figures are the result of both the exploitation of raw materials and the process of making the battery. Regardless of their construction, an electric car and a combustion car similarly emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere - the former in the production stage, the latter while driving.
Electric cars may be the future of transport, but it is not without its drawbacks at the moment. To ensure that the environment is protected, it is necessary to take concrete action and implement innovations that reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of all modes of transport, thus preventing the planet from constantly heating up.
