![]() Try out the “How Clean is Your Electric Vehicle?” online tool to see how electric vehicle emissions measure up where you live - get a personalized report on how much carbon pollution you save by going electric, based on your ZIP code and electric vehicle make/model.ĥ. ![]() And as states clean up their energy grids, the benefits of electric vehicles become stronger. Running electric or hybrid cars on the grid in any state has lower greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline-powered cars, as revealed in a study by experts at the Union of Concerned Scientists. The very good news? Because electric vehicles are more efficient in converting energy to power cars and trucks, electricity across the board is cleaner and cheaper as a fuel for vehicles, even when that electricity comes from the dirtiest grid. ![]() The electricity that charges and fuels battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles comes from power grids, which rely on a range of sources - from fossil fuels to clean renewable energy.Įnergy grids can vary from one state to another, which means that the carbon footprint of driving an electric vehicle ranges depending on the source of its electricity.Įarthjustice attorneys are working across the country to bring 100% clean energy, but on our way there (consumption of renewable energy recently surpassed coal), a portion of the electricity in this country will continue to be generated by the burning of fossil fuels. Electric vehicles have a smaller carbon footprint than gasoline-powered cars, no matter where your electricity comes from. The diesel in big rigs and farm equipment is worse, with an additional $4.80 in social costs to our health and climate per gallon.ģ. One of the primary causes of fine particulate matter pollution (PM 2.5) is combustion from gasoline and diesel car engines.Īn separate study by Duke University underscored the health costs: each gallon of gasoline purchased at the gas station carries with it up to $3.80 in health and environmental costs. The health impacts of localized air pollution last a lifetime, with the effects borne out in asthma attacks, lung damage, and heart conditions.Ī study by Harvard University found “a striking association between long-term exposure to harmful fine particulate matter and COVID-19 mortality in the United States,” explains Rashmi Joglekar, a staff scientist at Earthjustice’s Toxic Exposure & Health Program. Air pollutants from gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles cause asthma, bronchitis, cancer, and premature death. We have only a decade left to change the way we use energy to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.Įmissions from cars and trucks are not only bad for our planet, they’re bad for our health. To solve the climate crisis, we need to make the vehicles on our roads as clean as possible. The largest source of climate pollution in the United States? Transportation. Electric vehicles are saving the climate - and our lives. The first electric fire truck in the nation was welcomed by Angelenos in California in 2021 - and in the coming years, electric sanitation trucks will be quietly gliding through neighborhoods to pick up garbage and recycling, and electric postal trucks and increasing numbers of electric trucks will be delivering mail and packages from warehouses to homes, air pollution-free.Ģ. It’s more than just electric passenger cars now - from New York to Mississippi, you may find yourself on a quiet, zipping electric transit bus.
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