Because larger vehicles use more energy than smaller vehicles, there is greater potential for fuel cost savings when switching to vehicles powered by electricity.
June 24, 2024
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Because larger vehicles use more energy than smaller vehicles, there is greater potential for fuel cost savings when switching to vehicles powered by electricity. Argonne National Laboratory estimated fuel cost savings potential for replacing a gasoline vehicle with the same size electric vehicle (all-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle) on a ZIP code level. Summing the data to a national level, pickups have the greatest potential for fuel cost savings when switching to all-electric vehicles, followed by vans and SUVs. Also, the greater the level of electrification, the greater the savings – an all-electric vehicle of the same size will save substantially more in fuel costs than a plug-in hybrid which still relies on gasoline for some of its operation.
Note: CUV = crossover utility vehicle. PHEV sports cars have less than 0.00 savings.
Source: Argonne National Laboratory, Adoption of Plug-in Electric Vehicles: Local Fuel Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions Across the U.S., February 2024.