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Over the last decade, there's been an increase in the purchasing of electric vehicles (EVs). There are many reasons one might consider switching to an EV – electric cars are more efficient than gas-powered cars, can reduce your dependence on fossil fuels, and require less maintenance than most cars, to name three popular reasons.

One draw for many who buy an electric car is that EVs are often considered one of the most sustainable forms of transportation. Unlike hybrid vehicles or gas-powered cars, EVs run solely on electric power – depending on how that power is produced, your EV can run 100% on sustainable, renewable resources. There are four factors to consider when evaluating the impact of electric cars on the environment: tailpipe emissions, well-to-wheel emissions, the energy source that charges the battery, and the car's efficiency.

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When an electric vehicle runs on electricity, it emits no tailpipe (also known as direct) emissions. When evaluated on that factor alone, EVs are much more eco-friendly than conventional gasoline-powered vehicles today.

However, when evaluating the eco-friendliness of an electric vehicle, you also need to consider the "well-to-wheel" emissions. This overarching term includes greenhouse gas and air pollutants emitted to produce and distribute the energy used to power the car. Electricity production results in a varying amount of emissions depending on the resource. While "being green" in driving your electric vehicle is a start, if your primary goal in purchasing an electric car is to reduce your greenhouse gas and pollutants emissions, you should also prioritize using zero-emissions electricity wherever possible.

All-electric vehicles emit around 4,450 pounds of CO2 equivalent yearly when considering well-to-wheel emissions. By comparison, conventional gasoline cars will emit over twice as much annually. The amount of well-to-wheel emissions your EV is responsible for largely depends on your geographic area and the energy sources most commonly used for electricity. For example, if you live in California, your electricity likely comes from natural gas. This doesn't hold if your electric vehicle is used and charged in New Hampshire, as the state sources most of its electricity from nuclear power plants.

Natural gas provides the majority of electricity in the United States, followed closely by coal. It is often considered the "cleanest" fossil fuel because it emits 50 to 60 percent less carbon dioxide than coal. Coal is responsible for around 65 percent of carbon dioxide emissions by the electric power sector in the U.S. Even if your electricity is primarily from a coal plant, driving an EV will likely still have lower or similar well-to-wheel emissions than a conventional car. In most places in the United States today, the mix of resources used to generate your electricity mean that driving an electric vehicle will produce lower well-to-wheel emissions than a traditional car.

An electric vehicle will produce fewer emissions than a comparable gasoline-powered car. However, if you want to generate as close to zero well-to-wheel emissions as possible, not all electricity sources are created equal. Suppose your primary motive in purchasing an electric vehicle is to be green. Consider powering your car with a renewable energy source you can generate at home (such as solar, wind, or geothermal).

When purchasing an electric vehicle, homeowners often consider pairing it with a solar panel system on their roof to charge their car. An average home with a 5 kW installation pays around $10,465 for its solar panel system. The payback period varies depending on your location, but most homes throughout the country break even on the investment of solar panels by year seven.

Your solar savings can be even more significant and pay back quicker when pairing an installation with an electric vehicle. Why? Installing solar means eliminating what you typically pay for gasoline and powering your vehicle with free electricity from your panels. Consider oversizing your solar panel system to build the capacity to charge your electric vehicle. The additional panels you'd need to power your EV will depend on the car's efficiency, how often you drive it, and the solar potential of the area you want to install.

Even if you can't generate renewable energy at your property for your EV, you can consider subscribing to a community solar share or changing your electricity supplier to a "green power" option that uses renewable energy sources. Community solar is rapidly expanding across the country, and most utility companies today also have opportunities to purchase electricity from renewable resources specifically.

Outside of the resource used to produce your power, another reason why electric vehicles are considered more sustainable than traditional vehicles is because electric car efficiency is higher. When the gasoline in conventional vehicles combusts to power the car, approximately 17 to 21 percent of the energy is converted into power for the car. On the other hand, EVs can convert 59 to 62 percent of the electric energy to power the vehicle.

When comparing an EV option to a conventional gasoline vehicle (or even a hybrid option), car shoppers also often evaluate MPGe, otherwise known as miles per gallon equivalent (of gasoline). The EPA calculates MPGe by representing the miles a vehicle can go given the same (or equivalent) amount of energy in one gasoline gallon. The average MPG of a typical gasoline-powered car is around 24.7 miles per gallon. While that's much more efficient than in the past, it's not much compared to the MPGe of electric vehicles today. Electric cars available now can have a comparable "fuel economy" of more than 130 MPGe – more than six times the efficiency of conventional vehicles.

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