Sep 11, 2025 07:39 PM
A groundbreaking study finds EVs are now the lowest carbon (car) ride on U.S. roads—everywhere, for everyone
https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/202...r-everyone
INTRO: The lifetime climate footprint of an electric car is now smaller than that of any other type of car – no matter where you drive it in the United States. The finding comes from the most detailed and comprehensive comparison of greenhouse gas emissions from different vehicle types yet conducted.
Transportation is responsible for 28% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., and 57% of those emissions come from light-duty vehicles such as passenger cars and pickup trucks. “Car buyers can play a key role in reducing climate pollution by purchasing electric vehicles,” says study team member Greg Keoleian, director of the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
In the new study, Keoleian and his collaborators conducted a life cycle analysis of the manufacture, use, and disposal of different kinds of 2025 model year vehicles. They analyzed 35 different combinations of vehicle class (pickups, SUVs, and passenger sedans) and technology (internal combustion engine, hybrid, plug-in hybrid with 35- or 50-mile battery range, and battery electric with 200-, 300-, or 400-mile range).
The researchers examined the impact of driving county by county. This was necessary because weather impacts vehicle performance (electric vehicles especially are less efficient in the cold), and the greenhouse gas emissions of electric vehicles depend on whether the local electric grid is powered mainly by coal, for example, or by renewables.
The analysis is the first to show that battery electric vehicles have lower lifetime emissions than all other vehicle types in every county across the contiguous United States, the researchers report in the journal Environmental Science and Technology... (MORE - details)
https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/202...r-everyone
INTRO: The lifetime climate footprint of an electric car is now smaller than that of any other type of car – no matter where you drive it in the United States. The finding comes from the most detailed and comprehensive comparison of greenhouse gas emissions from different vehicle types yet conducted.
Transportation is responsible for 28% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., and 57% of those emissions come from light-duty vehicles such as passenger cars and pickup trucks. “Car buyers can play a key role in reducing climate pollution by purchasing electric vehicles,” says study team member Greg Keoleian, director of the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
In the new study, Keoleian and his collaborators conducted a life cycle analysis of the manufacture, use, and disposal of different kinds of 2025 model year vehicles. They analyzed 35 different combinations of vehicle class (pickups, SUVs, and passenger sedans) and technology (internal combustion engine, hybrid, plug-in hybrid with 35- or 50-mile battery range, and battery electric with 200-, 300-, or 400-mile range).
The researchers examined the impact of driving county by county. This was necessary because weather impacts vehicle performance (electric vehicles especially are less efficient in the cold), and the greenhouse gas emissions of electric vehicles depend on whether the local electric grid is powered mainly by coal, for example, or by renewables.
The analysis is the first to show that battery electric vehicles have lower lifetime emissions than all other vehicle types in every county across the contiguous United States, the researchers report in the journal Environmental Science and Technology... (MORE - details)