Research from two University of California campuses is casting doubt on a familiar criticism of electric vehicles. The study suggests that continuing to drive the gas-powered car you already own is not automatically the better choice for the climate.
Their modeling found that, for most drivers, making the switch earlier can reduce emissions. That means retiring a still-functional gas vehicle and replacing it with an EV may provide a meaningful climate benefit.
Here's what to know
According to CleanTechnica, citing research from UC Santa Barbara's Roland Geyer and UC Santa Cruz's J. Elliott Campbell, scrapping a working combustion vehicle and moving to an EV produced lower emissions 92% of the time.
To determine whether switching to an EV sooner or keeping an existing gas-powered car on the road would result in fewer emissions, researchers compared the environmental impact of continuing to operate a functional gas vehicle with permanently retiring it and replacing it with a battery-electric vehicle.
In one representative case, as CleanTechnica reported, swapping a production-weighted SUV on the average U.S. grid lowered total emissions by 44% over 16 years when the gas vehicle was retired after year two. The added emissions from building the replacement EV were generally offset after about three years of cleaner driving.
The key variable was how much fuel the old vehicle would still burn, not the emissions from making the battery. Differences in fuel use and driving efficiency mattered more than even a wide range of battery-production pollution.
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Still, the study was not a blanket endorsement of getting rid of every older car. Very lightly driven vehicles, efficient hybrids, and some plug-in hybrids may not provide a climate benefit if they are replaced too soon, particularly in places with dirtier electricity grids.
More background
The slogan "the greenest car is the one already built" leaves out an important timing issue, the outlet reported. The manufacturing emissions tied to an existing gas car have already happened, so the bigger climate question is how much more pollution that vehicle will create if it stays in service.
In the United States, many households rely on cars for work, school, medical appointments, and everyday errands. Any effort to encourage older vehicles to be scrapped has to weigh the climate benefits against the reality that affordable used cars remain essential for many families.
EVs can also come with clear financial benefits. They usually cost less to fuel than gas-powered vehicles and often require less routine maintenance because they do not need oil changes and have fewer moving parts that wear down over time.
A more effective approach would target the highest-polluting vehicles first while still preserving affordable transportation options.
What can be done?
According to CleanTechnica, the research points to the value of more targeted vehicle-retirement incentives.
Rather than offering the same payout for any older vehicle, policymakers could focus on high-mileage pickups, inefficient SUVs, and other gas guzzlers likely to create the most future emissions.
For households considering a switch, the economics can improve further with home charging. Charging an EV at home often costs less than using public chargers, but basic Level 1 charging tends to be slow. Qmerit provides free, instant installation estimates for faster Level 2 home charger installations.
The study also suggests that large fleets could play an outsized role. Rental companies, delivery services, governments, and corporations tend to log heavy mileage, so, as CleanTechnica noted, electrifying them early could cut emissions quickly while also moving more used EVs into the market within three to five years.
A stronger secondhand EV market could give more drivers access to cleaner transportation without requiring them to buy brand-new vehicles.
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