Driving an electric vehicle (EV) results in less global warming emissions than the average gasoline-fueled vehicle. As the US electricity grid gets cleaner (by shifting away from coal and adding solar and wind power), the benefits of EVs compared with gasoline vehicles will continue to grow.
UCS analysis over the past nine years demonstrates this trend in action: in 2012, less than half the people in the United States lived in a region where the average EV produced less emissions than a gasoline car with a fuel economy rating of 50 mpg—today nearly everyone does. This reinforces the role that EVs will play as a key solution to reducing the US transportation sector’s contribution to climate change.
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Citation
Reichmuth, David. 2020. Electric Vehicles are Cleaner than Gasoline— and Getting Better. Cambridge, MA: Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/cleaner-evs
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