Researchers cited in TUM study accuse it of seriously distorting their findings

The dispute over a Technical University of Munich study on electric cars has entered a new round after Dutch researchers accused its authors of seriously distorting their work. The study, which was presented as potentially relevant to EU policy, received prominent coverage under the headline “The EU’s car lie,” suggesting that electric vehicles may not be the climate solution they are claimed to be.

That argument focused on a familiar issue: comparing the tailpipe emissions of petrol and diesel cars with the zero exhaust emissions of electric vehicles does not show the full picture. Battery production also creates carbon dioxide emissions, and the manufacturing process is energy-intensive. But the article notes that this life-cycle approach is not new. Researchers have long used it to provide a more realistic comparison, although methodological differences can produce varying estimates of electric cars’ climate benefits.

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Our study reaches conclusions that contradict what the TUM press release and the subsequent media coverage suggest.

The studies share one important conclusion: electric drivetrains remain the more favorable option. Transport researcher Giulio Mattioli of TU Dortmund said the Munich study did not provide an argument against electric cars. Markus Söder, Bavaria’s premier, nevertheless said the reporting showed that the “real end of the end of combustion engines” should follow.

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We strongly distance ourselves from the TUM statement.

That demand now looks even less secure after experts from Leiden University intervened. Arnold Tukker, a Leiden professor and chair of the International Society for Industrial Ecology, said the Munich authors cited his research at a key point but drew a meaning that contradicted it. “Our study reaches conclusions that contradict what the TUM press release and the subsequent media coverage suggest,” he wrote. He added, “We strongly distance ourselves from the TUM statement.”

Tukker said the researchers had found that electric vehicles were “an excellent means of achieving a low-emission transport system” and concluded that replacing petrol cars with electric vehicles should be accelerated, not delayed. The TUM study itself reportedly found that electric cars emit 41% less carbon dioxide than combustion-engine vehicles across their full product life cycle. The article argues that headlines about supposed electric-car “lies” can nevertheless leave readers with the opposite impression.

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We found that electric vehicles are an excellent means of achieving a low-emission transport system. We concluded that replacing petrol cars with electric vehicles should be accelerated, not delayed.