“Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) sold in the United States today have a clear emissions advantage over internal combustion engine vehicles powered by gasoline and diesel fuel. Not only do BEVs emit zero tailpipe pollutants but upstream emissions have been substantially reduced. Since 2005 U.S. electricity generation has shifted away from coal and towards natural gas and renewable energy. In 2005, 50% of U.S. electricity was generated at coal-fired plants, 19% by natural gas, and 0.5% by solar and wind combined. In 2021, coal produced only 22% of U.S. electricity, natural gas generation accounted for 38%, and solar and wind generated 12% [USDOE EIA 2022, table 7.2a]. As a result, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from U.S. electricity have fallen from 2.4 billion metric tons of CO2 to 1.6 billion, a 33% reduction, substantially diminishing the upstream emissions due to electricity use [EIA 2022, table 11.6]. Adding greenhouse gas emissions in vehicle manufacturing and disposal, the full lifecycle emissions of a 234-mile range BEV sold in the United States today is about half that of a comparable gasoline vehicle [Kelly et al., 2022, figure ES-1].

“The environmental impacts of electricity use by transportation depend on how the electricity is generated, which varies by time and place. National averages provide a high-level overview of patterns and trends. In 2010, 44.9% of U.S. electricity was generated by burning coal, while wind power produced 2.3% and solar power generation was negligible (Table 6-1). By 2021 coal’s share had dropped to 21.9%, largely replaced by natural gas, which produces substantially fewer emissions. Generation by renewable energy sources increased, with solar and wind combining to produce 12.1% of U.S. electricity (Table 6-2). Carbon dioxide emissions from electric power generation decreased by 31.6%, while electricity production remained relatively unchanged dropping 0.2% [EIA 2022a, tables 11.6 and 7.2a].

“If electric vehicles are to achieve mass-market success consistent with national goals, public charging will have to become as accessible, rapid, and economical as refueling with gasoline. Deploying an effective national charging infrastructure is challenging, chiefly because the EV market is in the early stages of development, and battery and charging technologies are evolving. Today, EV owners do 80 to 90% of their charging at home, a major departure from traditional vehicle petroleum refueling [Greene et al. 2020]. In 2011, the year after introduction of the first commercially mass-produced battery electric passenger car, there were 2,100 public charging stations operating in the United States. [USDOE AFDC 2022]. From 2011 to 2022, approximately 11,100 charging stations were added each year to reach 124,088 stations in 2022 (Figure 6-9A,” BTS said.