Do electric vehicles have catalytic converters?
Content
In this article, we explore whether EVs have catalytic converters and whether they are needed.
Catalytic converters are common in gasoline powered vehicles to reduce vehicle emissions. However, electric cars don't use gasoline, so are they still needed? Such a question can be asked when comparing electric vehicles (EV) with gasoline ones.
The answer is no, i.e. there are no catalytic converters in electric vehicles. The reason is that they don't need them. But why not?
Do electric vehicles have a catalytic converter?
The main question that this article addresses is whether electric vehicles have a catalytic converter. The answer is no, because electric vehicles do not have catalytic converters.
Hybrid vehicles are an exception only because they are not fully electric and contain an internal combustion engine. However, we'll take a look at why they don't, and what are the consequences of not having a catalytic converter. First, we need to know what a catalytic converter does.
Attention: Although this article is about electric vehicles, the question of whether a catalytic converter is needed and other information about them applies equally to electric vehicles in general.
What do catalytic converters do
A catalytic converter is a device that helps reduce harmful emissions from a car engine. It is added to a car's exhaust pipe as part of its exhaust system. Its outer casing contains a catalyst that converts the gases coming from the engine (CO-HC-NOx) into relatively safer gases (CO2-H2AT2), which are then thrown into the air (see illustration below). [2]
The gases produced by the engine are hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide. The function of the catalytic converter is critical because carbon monoxide is toxic. The red blood cells absorb this gas and prevent the absorption of the oxygen needed to sustain life. [3]
In short, its goal is to make vehicle emissions less harmful to our health and the environment. The final exhaust gases (after catalysis) are carbon dioxide, water and nitrogen. Carbon dioxide is also not harmless, but to a lesser extent than carbon monoxide.
Legal requirements
Having a catalytic converter in a car is a legal requirement if the car is equipped with an internal combustion engine. The requirement is checked during emissions testing to ensure it is present and working properly.
Mandatory use of a catalytic converter went into effect in 1972 to control air and groundwater pollution from motor vehicles. A few more important points regarding catalytic converters: [4]
- It is illegal to modify, disable or remove a catalytic converter from a vehicle.
- When replacing the catalytic converter, the replacement must be similar.
- Emissions verification is required annually.
In addition to electric vehicles, off-road vehicles are also exempt from the requirement to have a catalytic converter.
Why Electric Vehicles Don't Need Catalytic Converters
Since the catalytic converter works to remove pollutants from the car's internal combustion engine, and electric vehicles do not have an internal combustion engine, they do not emit exhaust gases. Therefore, electric vehicles do not need a catalytic converter.
Other things electric cars don't have
There are a few things EVs don't have, which explains why they don't need a catalytic converter. Among them:
- Without internal combustion engine
- No need for engine oil to lubricate the engine
- No production of toxic pollutants
- Much fewer mechanical parts
Consequences of not having a catalytic converter
Health and environment
The lack of a catalytic converter, because electric vehicles don't emit exhaust gases, makes them more environmentally friendly than cars that do, at least in terms of toxic fumes.
The guard
There is another reason why the absence of a catalytic converter makes electric vehicles safer. This is security in terms of security. Catalytic converters contain expensive metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium. They help in the filtration process to reduce harmful emissions with the help of a honeycomb structure. They catalyze harmful gases, hence the name catalytic converter.
However, expensive maintenance makes catalytic converters a target for thieves. If the catalytic converter is easy to remove, it makes it a more attractive target. Some vehicles even have more than one catalytic converter.
Future trend
Given the expected growth in demand for electric vehicles as a replacement for combustion engine vehicles, demand for catalytic converters will decline.
The real aspiration is to create a cleaner environment. Electric vehicles offer the opportunity to maintain a relatively clean and healthy environment by making cars that do not emit harmful gases, which eliminates the need for catalytic converters.
It is likely that in a few years, catalytic converters will be a relic of a bygone era of cars emitting toxic gases.
Control of harmful gases with electric vehicles
If electric vehicles (EVs) do not emit harmful gases and therefore do not need a catalytic converter, then why do we still need to control harmful gases? The reason for this is that, although electric vehicles themselves do not emit harmful gases, the situation changes during production and charging.
Electric vehicle manufacturers emit a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for building electric vehicles, and charging networks for charging electric vehicles also continue to rely heavily on non-renewable energy sources. Therefore, the fact that electric vehicles do not need catalytic converters does not mean that we are completely spared from the need to control harmful gases.
Summing up
We investigated whether electric vehicles have a catalytic converter. We indicated that they are not needed, and then we explained why they do not need it. The reason that electric vehicles do not have and do not need a catalytic converter is that they do not produce harmful gaseous emissions like cars with internal combustion gasoline engines.
The main hazardous gas is carbon monoxide. The catalytic converter converts this and the other two involved gases (hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen) into the relatively safer carbon dioxide, in addition to water and nitrogen.
The more harmful carbon monoxide requires a working catalytic converter. Since electric vehicles do not emit harmful gases, there are no legal requirements.
However, we have also shown that while electric vehicles may appear to be safer for our health and the environment, carbon dioxide emissions during their production and for charging them still require the control of harmful gases.
However, as the use of electric vehicles is likely to increase in the future, this means that the demand for catalytic converters will continue to fall.
Take a look at some of our articles below.
- How many amps does it take to charge an electric car
- multimeter test output
- What is a VSR drill
Recommendations
[1] Allan Bonnick and Derek Newbold. A practical approach to vehicle design and maintenance. 3rd version. Butterworth-Heinemann, Elsevier. 2011.
[2] Christy Marlow and Andrew Morkes. Auto mechanic: Working under the hood. Mason Cross. 2020.
[3] T. C. Garrett, C. Newton, and W. Steeds. Automobile. 13th version. Butterworth-Heinemann. 2001.
[4] Michel Seidel. Laws of the catalytic converter. Retrieved from https://legalbeagle.com/7194804-catalytic-converter-laws.html. Legal beagle. 2018.
