Fossil-fuelled cars should pay their health bill

Environmental group Bellona has estimated that if the heavy human health costs caused by exhaust emissions from internal combustion engine (ICE) cars in the EU were to be borne by car makers, an average conventionally fuelled car would have to pay back €2,371 per year to correctly compensate the public. In other words, the unaccounted for human health cost of a fossil vehicle during its lifetime would be roughly €23,715, which in turn would result in the doubling of the average ICE car’s sticker price to €50,150.

In its new brief “Rethinking the cost of conventionally fuelled road transport – Getting the car industry to pay the human health bill”, Bellona concludes that electro-mobility is the only viable cost-effective approach to drastically reduce damaging air pollution and safeguard human health. In contrast to ICE cars and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), pure battery electric vehicles (EVs) produce no exhaust emissions and consequently cause less pollution in general.

Source: Euractiv.com, 6 April 2017
Link to the policy brief: http://bellona.org