Over their lifetime, battery electric vehicles produce far less global warming pollution than their gasoline counterparts—and they’re getting cleaner.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Since we first published our State of Charge<\/a> report in 2012, the environmental benefits of electric vehicles<\/a> (EVs) have continued to grow. Two-thirds of all Americans now live in areas where driving an EV produces fewer climate emissions than almost all comparable gasoline and gasoline hybrid cars—a fact attributable to more efficient EVs and an increasingly clean electricity grid.<\/p>\n But what are the global warming emissions of electric cars on a life cycle<\/em> basis—from the manufacturing of the vehicle’s body and battery to its ultimate disposal and reuse? To answer this, the Union of Concerned Scientists undertook a comprehensive, two-year review of the climate emissions from vehicle production, operation, and disposal. We found that battery electric cars generate half<\/em> the emissions of the average comparable gasoline car, even when pollution from battery manufacturing is accounted for.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n