Governments and car manufacturers present electric cars as the future of eco-friendly transportation. But a less visible trend questions this narrative: electric cars are getting bigger.
The International Energy Agency recently announced that larger models, including sport utility vehicles (SUVs), hold a significant share of the electric car markets.
- In China, electric SUVs accounted for over 60% of electric car sales in 2025.
- In Europe, SUVs represented nearly 75% of electric models in 2025.
- In the US, the figure was even higher, exceeding 85%.
The emissions from SUVs are now so high that if all SUVs formed a country, it would be one of the top five CO₂ emitters in the world. The issue with SUVs does not only stem from their exhaust emissions. It's also about their size, weight, cost, and how they reinforce car-dependent lifestyles, as shown in an analysis published in The Conversation.
The Issue with Electric SUVs
Electric SUVs can reduce exhaust emissions compared to gasoline and diesel SUVs, but they still require larger batteries, more raw materials, more energy, and more road space than smaller electric cars.
Their increased weight can also contribute to pollution caused by tire wear, brakes, and road surfaces, including fine particles that lead to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
Larger vehicles can also pose greater dangers on the roads, especially for children. According to a study using data from accidents in the UK, children aged between 0 and 18 hit by SUVs, rather than cars, had a 77% higher risk of suffering fatal injuries. For children under nine, the risk was over three times higher.
The publication also highlights another less visible effect: when roads are dominated by heavy personal vehicles, walking and cycling become less appealing, even for daily short trips. This is important because active travel (such as walking and cycling) is one of the easiest ways to integrate physical activity into daily life, while generating little to no direct carbon emissions.
Moreover, streets dominated by cars affect people unevenly. Low-income households are less likely to own new electric cars but still face the traffic, danger, noise, and pollution they cause.
This is why the transition to eco-friendly transportation needs to be evaluated beyond the number of electric cars sold. It should also be evaluated by reducing car dependency and creating healthier and more equitable streets, as emphasized by The Conversation.
Too Big to Be Green?
Research published in the journal Energy Economics uses SUV registrations as an unwanted indicator of transport decarbonization. The increasing sales of these vehicles work against the shift to smaller, lighter, and more energy-efficient cars.
Larger and more expensive vehicles can deepen car dependency: once people have invested in a costly car, transitioning to other modes of transport can be perceived as a loss.
The SUV boom illustrates this. Larger vehicles are portrayed as safer, more comfortable, and more desirable.
Advertisements depict them as symbols of freedom, family protection, and status, making large cars seem normal and necessary even when smaller cars and better transport options could meet many daily needs.
This conflicts with the climate goals of the UK and the EU, which prioritize emissions reduction, public health improvement, and increased accessibility to sustainable transport.
What Can Be Done?
There are practical alternatives. Policies can support smaller, lighter, and more affordable electric cars where cars are still needed.
It can also make walking, cycling, and public transport the easiest choices for daily travel. This means protected bike lanes, safe sidewalks, reliable buses, low-traffic neighborhoods, and road pricing that reflects the space, weight, and pollution costs of larger vehicles.
These measures are not about blaming drivers. They are pro-health, pro-equity, and pro-climate measures. Many people need cars, especially in rural and poorly connected areas. But the goal should be to reduce unnecessary car dependence, not replace every gasoline SUV with an electric SUV, concludes the cited analysis.
T.D.