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• Globally, electric vehicles have been shown repeatedly to have lower lifecycle emissions than traditional gas-powered vehicles, even in regions with fossil-fuel-dependent electricity grids.
  
• Specifically, studies have shown that EVs emit as much as 71% less carbon pollution than gas cars—that includes pollution from mining, manufacturing, and driving. What’s more, as mining and manufacturing are electrified, life cycle emissions from EVs will drop even further.
  
• EVs are especially clean when battery recycling is included (up to 95% of the material from an EV battery can be recycled).

Myth: EVs are more expensive than gas cars
Fact: EVs are easily cheaper over their lifetime, and sometimes cheaper upfront

• Today’s EV drivers pay the equivalent of $0.40 per litre gas to charge their cars—less than what drivers paid for gas during the gas wars of the ’90s.
  
• When considering the full cost of ownership over the course of a decade, from a car’s purchase price to fuel and maintenance, a typical EV saves drivers roughly $30,000 or about $3,000 a year.
  
• Specifically, choosing an electric hatchback or SUV instead of a gas version will save you $28,500 over a 10-year ownership period. The same is true for sedans and trucks. Opting for a Tesla Model 3 instead of a Lexus ES will save you $38,000, while electric truck drivers will save a huge $40,000 over 10 years by choosing an electric F-150 instead of a gas-powered one.

Myth: EV batteries need replacing before the vehicle’s end of life
Fact: EV batteries have been shown to last for more than 20 years of driving

• All EVs sold today include a battery warranty of at least eight years and 160,000 kilometres.
  
• A recent study found that EV batteries degrade just 1.8% per year on average—meaning EV batteries can typically last more than 20 years.
  
• Another analysis found that EVs from 2016 and newer have less than a 1% battery replacement rate, and nearly all of these instances happen under warranty (except in rare cases of accident or damage).
  
• Tesla has claimed that the range on its Model S and X vehicles decreased by just 12% after 321,000 kilometers of driving (these models are older and therefore offer insights based on real-world data).

Myth: EVs do not have enough range
Fact: The average Canadian drives 60 kilometers per day—far less than the average EV range of 480 kilometres

• The average range of new EVs is now almost 480 kilometres—and rising. Most Canadians drive less than 60 kilometres per day, while the average EV driver does between 80% to 90% of charging at home, usually just plugging in overnight for convenience. What’s more, these driving requirements mean that Level 1 charging using a regular power outlet is likely adequate for most EV-owning households.
  
• As Canada’s fast-charging network grows, range and charging will become less of a concern for longer trips. There are now fast chargers at 20 out of 23 ONroute rest stops in Ontario, while PetroCanada has already installed chargers along the TransCanada highway from Halifax to Victoria.
  
• The Government of Canada has committed to deploy 84,500 chargers by 2029 and is on track to meet its 2026 target.

Myth: The electricity grid can’t handle EVs
Fact: With planning, grid-related issues are easily avoidable

• While the switch to EVs will require provinces to plan for EV growth, other countries around the world (EVs account for some 80% of new cars sold in Norway) have not experienced grid-related issues as a result of high EV adoption.
  
• A Canadian government study on the anticipated electricity needs of EVs found that they would represent 3%, 16%, and 22% of electrical power demand in 2030, 2040, and 2050, respectively. As the study states, “This number is significant, but since the growth is spread over 30 years, with most happening during the 2030 to 2050 timeframe, Canadian utilities have 10 years to refine the load forecast and plan for grid expansion.”

Myth: EVs are not suitable for cold Canadian winters
Fact: EVs are more reliable in cold weather than gas cars

• EVs do lose some range during extreme cold. Some studies have shown range loss to be no more than 30% and as low as 8% for some makes and models. However, other studies of extreme cold have found it to be between 30% and 50%.
  
• EVs have considerably more range than required for most daily journeys (see myth five).
  
• What’s more, cold weather can also increase gas car fuel consumption by up to 28%, effectively reducing range and increasing fuel costs.
  
• In addition, most modern EVs have battery heating options that preheat the battery before driving to reduce range loss.
  
• Unlike a gas car, EVs do not have problems starting in cold weather, and many EVs allow owners to remotely preheat the passenger compartment before driving.

Myth: EVs have a greater fire risk than gas cars
Fact: Fires are more common in gas cars than EVs

• A 2022 study from insurance website AutoInsuranceEZ tracked car fires in the U.S., finding that electric vehicles saw just 25 fires per 100,000 EVs sold compared to 1,530 fires for every 100,000 gas cars. In other words, fires occurred in one in every 4,000 EVs compared to one in every 65 gas cars.

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Buildings are the third-largest source of carbon emissions in Canada, with space and water heating being the major contributors. 

It is necessary to move toward cleaner and more affordable ways of heating and cooling buildings to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Heat pumps can play a key role in the clean energy transition, all while protecting your pocketbook. Learn more about the cost-saving benefits of heat pumps in our report, Opening the Door.

How heat pumps work

Heat pumps use technology similar to that in a refrigerator or air conditioner. They function by transferring and compressing heat, which can be used in the form of hot air for forced air heating or to heat up water (either for hot water use or for central heating systems). Heat pumps also provide cooling, which means you won’t need a separate air conditioner in your home.

There are two kinds of heat pumps: air source and ground source. The former are the most common and take heat from the ambient air. Even when the air outside feels cold, there is still heat energy present that a heat pump can leverage. Ground source heat pumps take heat from underground, where geothermal energy provides a never-ending source. 

Benefits of heat pumps

Household savings

• Installing a heat pump is already the most cost-effective option for most Canadian households over the lifetime of the system due to higher efficiency. Specifically, standard air source heat pumps with a backup are generally more cost-effective than gas-fired heating with air conditioning.
• There are federal and provincial rebates available for home energy upgrades to help with upfront costs. Check out our report, A Clean Bill, to see what’s available and where.
• Heat pumps with electric backup tend to be the lowest-cost options, particularly for single-detached homes and townhouses, in Vancouver, Halifax, and Montreal. 
• By moving away from gas altogether, a household can remove its natural gas hook up, which can save between around $170 and $470 a year depending on the province. 
• A household in St. John’s, Newfoundland, that switches from baseboard heating to a heat pump could knock $860 a month off their bill. 
• A family living in a detached house in a Toronto suburb that adopts all-electric cars and a heat pump could save $550 on their monthly energy bills (including equipment costs) compared to one that remains reliant on fossil fuels. The same scenario in Vancouver could save a family $725 on their monthly energy bills.

Emissions savings and efficiency

• Heat pumps are key to decarbonizing buildings. In fact, electrifying heating with heat pumps could cut global emissions by over 500 million tonnes by 2030.
• Heat pumps, on average, operate three times more efficiently than electric resistance or electric boiler heating and  two to five times more efficiently than a natural gas furnace. 
• Electricity-powered heat pumps can lead to nearly zero-emissions heating and cooling in regions where the electrical grids are powered by clean energy. Even when running on emissions-intensive electricity, heat pumps emit between 20% and 30 % less carbon than gas furnaces because of their high efficiency.
• Emissions savings from heat  pumps will only increase with time as the grid becomes increasingly cleaner.

Heat pumps cool as well as heat

• Heat pumps can address both heating and cooling needs, making them not only a great deal but also a tool to protect people during dangerously hot days.
• Compared to dedicated air conditioning units, which are unable to heat, heat pumps offer energy savings benefits as they provide cooling along with heating, thus eliminating the need for an additional, separate appliance. 

What about the Canadian Winter?

• Heat pumps are most popular in some of the coldest countries: Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
  • Studies in Finland found several heat pump models that maintained heating efficiency at outside temperatures as low as -30C.  
• Since air source heat pumps work through compressing heat from the outside air, they are less efficient in cold weather. However, this does not prevent air source heat pumps from lowering emissions and costs even in cold climates. There are a range of new models of “cold climate” air source heat pumps that can withstand Canadian winters.
  • In a government-led trial in the Yukon, heat pumps were successfully used at temperatures down to -29C. To put this in context, Toronto only saw temperatures drop below -20C on 16 days between 2018 and 2023.
• Ground source heat pumps, which use heat from underground rather than the outside air, could also be a good option in some places in Canada, offering very high heating efficiencies in the coldest winter months— even when the mercury drops below -30C. 

The post Heat pumps in Canada’s clean energy transition  appeared first on Clean Energy Canada.