The world is witnessing an unprecedented era of shifting towards electric vehicles after gas-powered cars have dominated the automotive industry for many consecutive years. With the transition to electric, many concerns arise regarding the different aspects of EV handling, including shipping electric vehicles with eco-friendly practices.
This article discusses how to ship an electric car, employing sustainable shipping methods, after illustrating EV shipping’s environmental impact.
The Environmental Impact of Shipping EVs
The primary motive that leads governments to encourage and support electric vehicle production is their proven efficiency in saving fuel and costs and ultimately reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
However, it is critical to note that manufacturers, distributors, EV owners, and shippers must find reliable and eco-friendly methods to ship these cars while serving the same purpose. Researchers expect that introducing electric vehicles to American streets to replace combustion cars will help address and solve many serious environmental problems, notably global warming, air pollution, and acoustic and oil pollution.
Moreover, recent studies show that the shipping industry annually produces around 940 million tons of CO2, equaling 2.5% of the total CO2 worldwide. This confirms the pressing need to rethink our actions toward the environment and transform into adopting greener shipping practices.
How to Ship an EV Environmentally-Friendly?
Various effective green shipping practices and methods have been proposed as more car shipping companies are aware of their carbon footprint. The following are some of the eco-friendly practices for shipping an EV.
Choosing Sustainable Packaging for EV Transport
Packaging significantly minimizes environmental impact, particularly sustainable packaging for EVs. For example, many owners of high-end EVs tend to use enclosed car carriers when transporting their cars across the country for the optimal protection they provide.
However, enclosed carriers are less efficient for shipping cars because they can only haul a few cars, 3 to 4, per shipment, which increases the emission amount produced by each shipment. On the other hand, people can use one of the environmentally-friendly packaging solutions to protect their cars during shipping while transporting them using a more efficient shipping method, like open carriers that fit up to 12 cars simultaneously.
Here are some innovative packaging solutions from which car shippers can benefit in reducing waste and emissions and proving their eco-friendly work culture.
Recyclable and Biodegradable Materials for Packaging EVs
- Corrugated cardboard is a strong and durable material and can be recycled many times. It is also affordable and accessible to source, making it an effective option for EV packaging.
- EVs can also be covered using paper as it is another lightweight, recyclable material that can accommodate different shapes.
- Using recycled plastics to package electric cars is a good idea since they make durable and weather-resistant packaging materials. Besides, they help reduce waste and conserve resources.
- Biodegradable plastics have renewable resources, like corn starch and sugarcane, that microorganisms can break down. Thus, they are more sustainable for packaging EVs than traditional plastics.
You can utilize these methods for various purposes and safely package EVs’ batteries as well.
Optimizing Shipping Routes and Logistics
Optimizing shipping routes and logistics is always an effective solution that provides many benefits for all parties involved in the shipping process besides serving the environment. Route optimization saves money and time, increasing shippers’ profits and passing on generous price cuts to customers with earlier delivery schedules.
However, it is crucial to learn about the most useful shipping technologies and strategies for optimizing shipping logistics and routes to attain these benefits:
- The Transportation Management System (TMS) software is an efficient tool that helps car shippers plan, execute, and monitor their operations. It provides features like optimizing routes, selecting suitable carriers, and tracking real-time shipments.
- AI is another powerful tool that can significantly optimize shipping logistics in different ways, mainly by predicting demand, forecasting shipping times, identifying potential delays and risks, and automating many daunting tasks like scheduling.
- Car shippers can also incorporate data analytics to optimize their operations and logistics. Data analytics give car shippers valuable insights into their operations, allowing them to analyze data and make better decisions that improve efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint.
Car shippers committed to reducing their environmental impact can follow many other helpful practices, such as relying on alternative fuels, investing in electric shipping vessels, and collaborating with environmental institutions and EV manufacturers to promote sustainable shipping.
Supporting sustainable car shipping methods is essential for a greener future, which can be done by hiring eco-friendly shipping companies. Tempus Logix is a leading car shipping company in the United States with over eight years of experience shipping all vehicle types nationwide. The company offers a wide range of shipping services that meet clients’ expectations.
Conclusion
With electric vehicles becoming today’s trend in the automotive industry, it is essential to know how they can positively impact the environment and solve several problems. It is also time to learn how to ship these vehicles eco-friendly to create a better and greener future for the world.