Electric vehicles and sustainable transportation: A comprehensive review of environmental benefits, adoption trends, challenges, and future perspectives

Abstract

This paper examines the transition from internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) to electric vehicles (EVs) as a pathway toward sustainable transportation, reduced fossil-fuel dependence, and lower environmental impacts. Rather than viewing vehicle electrification as an inherently sustainable solution, the review evaluates how environmental performance, technological development, infrastructure, consumer behaviour, policy support, and broader system-level conditions influence the sustainability of EV deployment. Evidence from peer-reviewed studies and authoritative institutional reports, primarily published between 2015 and 2025, is critically synthesized to assess the opportunities and limitations of electric mobility. The results show that battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have zero direct tailpipe emissions, higher drive train efficiency and generally lower life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions than conventional vehicles. However, these benefits are highly dependent on the electricity-generation mix, the battery chemistry and capacity, the manufacturing conditions, the vehicle utilization and the end-of-life management. The uptake of EVs has been driven by falling battery prices, technology improvements, growing charging infrastructure and supporting policies, but there are large regional differences. The big hurdles are the upfront cost, lack of charging stations, range anxiety, battery degradation, critical-mineral dependency, grid capacity and recycling. The paper argues that sustainable electric mobility is more than a shift away from combustion engines toward electric drivetrains. It is based on clean electricity, efficient vehicles, accessible charging infrastructure, responsible supply chains for batteries, circular material flows and enabling policies. The paper concludes with the need for a coordinated development of these dimensions to ensure the effective contribution of EVs to sustainable transport and long-term transport decarbonization.