Estimates show that plug-in electric vehicles, including all-electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 5.5 million metric tons in 2021. The estimates used regional electric grid mixes and EV/PHEV registration locations. Two-thirds of the emissions reduction was attributable to EVs, while the remainder was attributable to PHEVs. From 2011, the first full year of mass market plug-in vehicle sales in the United States, to 2021, EVs and PHEVs reduced a total of 19.7 million metric tons of CO2.
Note: Includes tailpipe emissions and emissions associated with the production and distribution of fuels, but excludes emissions from the manufacturing of vehicles.
Source: David Gohlke, Yan Zhou, Xinyi Wu, and Calista Courtney, Argonne National Laboratory, Assessment of Light-Duty Plug-in Electric Vehicles in the United States, 2010–2021, ANL-22/71, 2022.