Why Drive Electric?
Economic Savings
Electricity is generated by a diverse set of primarily domestic energy sources including natural gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, and geothermal, and its price has historically been much more stable than oil. As a result, fuel costs for an electric vehicle are typically around 70 percent lower than those for the average gasoline-powered vehicle. When gasoline prices rise, this comparison becomes even more favorable. For example, at a price of $4 per gallon, a gasoline-powered vehicle that can travel 30 miles per gallon of fuel costs approximately 13 cents per mile. At 12 cents per kilowatt hour, a typical electric vehicle costs approximately 4 cents per mile. Even versus the most efficient gasoline-electric hybrids, fuel costs for electric vehicles are at least 40 percent lower. Electric vehicles also benefit from lower maintenance costs thanks to a combination of regenerative braking (which reduces wear and tear), many fewer moving parts, no fluid replacement, and other features. Use the Cost Calculator below to see how much you can save by driving electric!
Energy Security
The United States consumes approximately 19 million barrels of oil each day. Oil provides an incredible 97 percent of the energy that powers American cars, trucks, ships, and aircraft. As a result of this utter reliance, consumers and businesses are powerless against price changes, as they have practically no means to choose less costly alternatives. Electric vehicles can help shelter Americans from market volatility and other negative consequences associated with our dependence on oil.
Environmental Benefits
Over the past century, American use of cars and trucks has increased to such an extent that the transportation sector is now the country’s single largest source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Today, however, a very real solution exists to help reverse this trend on a local, national, and even global basis.
Plug-in electric vehicles can help to substantially improve urban air quality because they have zero (or very limited) tailpipe emissions—emissions like CO2, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides that are produced by conventional vehicles. Moreover, depending on the fuel used to generate the electricity powering them, electric vehicles can also offer significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
To learn more about the reduced emissions that electric vehicles produce and all the environmental benefits of driving electric, read this recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).