More and more large SUV cars - threatening climate targets

SVT has compiled statistics from Traffic Analysis which shows that between 2010 and 2018, the number of cars over 1.7 tonnes increased by 670,000. The proportion of cars over two tonnes has doubled.

Big cars, powerful cars and SUVs have become everyday food. At the same time, there are fewer small cars. Twenty-five years ago, almost every fifth car weighed under a ton - today it is only one car of 50.

According to many researchers, the trend is moving towards the climate goals. Big cars draw more energy and produce more emissions when driving them, but they also require more resources in steel mills and factories and therefore produce more emissions when manufactured. This applies not least to large electric cars, with large batteries, since the batteries require enormous resources in manufacturing.

"It's a development that is sad, bigger cars are always worse for the climate," says Professor Öivind Andersson at Lund University of Technology.

The government has pointed out that emissions from cars are an important reason why Sweden's emissions do not decrease quickly enough. There is the same trend within the EU. From 2000 to 2016, the cars became more emission-efficient, but in recent years the trend has gone the other way. Despite more efficient engines and more electric cars, emissions are increasing. The reason is more large cars with larger engines. EU statistics show that cars sold in Sweden have an average of 122 grams of CO2 per kilometer in emissions, which is higher than the EU average of 120, and significantly higher than our neighboring countries (see table below).

- We are seeing more and more heavy cars in Europe. And the manufacturer that sells the most heavy cars is Volvo, says Cinzia Pastorello, car expert at the European Energy Agency EEA, which produces the statistics.

Volvo currently sells 60 percent SUVs, and is the brand that on average sells the heaviest cars across the EU. Heavy cars produce more emissions in manufacturing - it can be about seven to eight tonnes of CO2 for a large SUV instead of four to five tonnes for a smaller or medium-sized car. Heavy cars produce more emissions when you drive them. An extra 300 kilos, as a rule of thumb, produces about ten grams more CO2 per kilometer, according to the EEA.

Electric cars and charging hybrids are often heavier because batteries weigh a lot, but it is not primarily the electrification that is seen in these statistics. However, electric cars and charging hybrids sold in Sweden are often very large and heavy - not infrequently SUVs. As a result, many of them from a life cycle perspective have a much greater environmental impact than smaller electric cars, or smaller hybrids with smaller batteries.

One issue that has also worried researchers more and more in recent years is particle emissions, which have seen thousands of deaths prematurely every year, only in Sweden. Many particles come from traffic - wear on asphalt, tires and brakes on the car. Öivind Andersson points out that there is a heavy car always worse, no matter what fuel it runs on.