Are EVs Better for the Environment? A Conversation on The Green Transition Show
ORGEL president, Kyle Orgel, recently joined The Green Transition Show, hosted by Dr. Francis Tuokuu, for an episode built around one of the most common questions in clean transportation: are electric cars really more environmentally friendly than the gasoline vehicles they replace? The full conversation is available on this page.
Orgel's central answer was yes, in the vast majority of cases. He pointed to full lifecycle analysis, which counts manufacturing, years of driving, and eventual disposal, where current research finds an electric vehicle produces about 73% lower greenhouse gas emissions than a comparable gasoline car. He also noted that these results are improving over time, largely because the electricity grid behind the vehicle continues to get cleaner.
The discussion did not gloss over the criticisms. Orgel acknowledged the real environmental costs of battery manufacturing and mining, and where the critics have a point he said so. The distinction he drew is one of scale and recoverability: the materials in a battery can be recovered and reused, while burned fuel is simply gone. That led to one of the more interesting threads of the episode, the growing practice of giving partly depleted EV batteries a second life as backup power storage before they ever reach a recycler.
The two also dug into the practical side of ownership. Charging looks very different for a driver who parks at an apartment building than for a homeowner with a garage. The industry's move toward a single universal charging plug, as standard as the gasoline pump handle, should remove one of the last daily frictions. On market momentum, Orgel cited Europe, where electric vehicle sales grew roughly 30 percent in 2025 to reach 28 percent of the new car market, along with building tailwinds in the United States.
The episode covers additional ground as well, including the electricity grid, the transportation sector's share of emissions, and what all of it means for drivers weighing a switch. Listen to the full conversation above.
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