There’s no denying the localised air quality improvement from EV vs ICE. Also, as detailed as Volvo’s study is, at the end of the day the XC40 platform isn’t an EV first platform, so isn’t going to be representative of the best EV has to offer in terms of packaging and efficiency.
That isn’t to say there aren’t inherently polluting parts of the EV manufacturing and supply chains, but they will only become more refined and more efficient with time.
I found the Volvo report quite interesting as whilst they were not EV first the cars were designed to support all forms of propulsion from the off and they aren't trying to hide anything, which is refreshing.
From an environmental perspective not buying any new cars is the best answer and just keep using what you've got but that's boring.
I can certainly appreciate the improvement in air quality with an EV, Covid showed that to me when people stopped driving to the office.
Synthetic/alternate fuels or powering electric motors via a fuel cell is probably the best answer but until investment is put into these alternate methods they won't happen, hydrogen is a good shout if we can pull our finger out, its one area where China doesn't hold all the keys to the supply chain and could be done in the UK.
For CO improvments though car ownership is not the issue, it is commercial waste that needs to be targeted, cars are just an easy target.
I like the idea of a PV array but a PV array when you get an EV doesn't make much sense, you'd need a massive array to charge a car, you might be able to charge a PHEV on a good day with a typical install. you do solar and battery for house loads an EV is too much unless you never drive anywhere and have such low power usage requirements then you can do top ups from solar, but then what would the point of an expensive EV, the environmental impact to make one of those versus using an existing ICE vehicle for such low usage would be far greater.
Quite simply, private car ownership and environmental friendliness aren't going to be compatible, no matter if they're an ICE or BEV power train driven.
The future is most likely cars as a service, no ownership, all self driven, but it is some way off.