Drive Electric Or Hybrid

Take a drive in a clean machine.

Make your next car an electric or hybrid vehicle. Take this step and decide a level of commitment that works for you. Give yourself a month and see how you do.

Try it

What kind of fuel does your car use?

Drive Electric Or Hybrid

If you use your car to get around a lot, upgrading to a hybrid or fully electric vehicle can help you save money and improve air quality in your neighborhood.

With their smooth, quiet ride and fast pick up, it’s little wonder that more people are choosing to drive electric and hybrid - experts predict that half of all vehicle sales will be hybrids or electric before 2040.

What you choose to drive will help to move the global market away from fossil fuels and cut your own carbon emissions.

Tips

To find the one that’s right for you, it’s helpful to understand the difference between fully electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) cars. Both hybrid and PHEV cars incorporate a gas / petrol powered engine, while the fully electric vehicle uses a battery only.

Most of us drive less than 40 miles (64 km) per day. With an average range of 186 miles (311 km), an electric car will get you where you want to go. If you drive longer trips, a hybrid will give you the best of both worlds.

Even if you aren’t in a position to buy or lease one, you can still take it for a test drive. It’s good to start researching early - and it lets the industry know people are interested. Or take a step to Get Around Greener instead.

Search out an online newsletter, like the Carbon Brief, to stay informed and how others are taking action on climate.

Benefits

Air pollution is a problem in many parts of the world, causing health issues in people of all ages. Using electric and hybrid vehicles reduces air pollution so we can all breathe easier.

They also cut carbon emissions. It would take roughly 5.6 acres (2.27 hectares) of forest one whole year to absorb the carbon of only one regular gas / petrol powered vehicle.

By 2050, hybrid cars could reduce carbon emissions by nearly 5 gigatons and save US$2.2 trillion in fuel costs. Electric cars could save over US$21 trillion in fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions by nearly 16 gigatons - that’s like turning off the world’s coal power plants for one and a half years.

REFERENCES

How Do Plug-In Hybrid Electric Cars Work?

Alternative Fuels Data Center

Projections of hybrid and electric cars indicate they could account for two thirds of all new vehicle sales by 2040.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Assuming there are 1.2 billion electric cars on the road worldwide by 2050, 15.7 gigatons of carbon dioxide from fuel combustion could be avoided as well as savings of US$21.3 trillion in reduced costs (assuming each vehicle would save a total of US17,832.)

Electric Vehicles - Scenario 2, Project Drawdown

Assuming there are 236 million hybrid cars on the road worldwide by 2050, 4.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion could be avoided and each vehicle would save a total of US$9,661 on fuel.

Hybrid cars - Scenario 2, Project Drawdown

There were 10 million electric cars on the world’s roads at the end of 2020, following a decade of rapid growth. Electric car registrations increased by 41% in 2020.

IEA Global EV Outlook 2021

16 gigatons of emissions is equal to the annual emissions of 1.6 years of operations for all coal power plants operational on earth as of 2019

International Energy Agency

The average daily passenger car trip in the US is 40 miles in the US, and the average EU trip is 20 km.

US Bureau of Transportation Statistics and CAWI Survey

A passenger car is estimated to produce 4.6 metric tons of carbon from annual fuel usage, requiring 2.27 hectares of forest to sequester the emissions.

US Environmental Protection Agency
Impact metric calculations

To determine the carbon emission reduction estimates related to switching to an electric car or hybrid car, the following calculations were performed:

Fossil Fuel Car: (miles/week) / (miles/gallon) x (kg CO2e/gallon) x (weeks/month) = kg CO2e / month

Lower Emitting Car (electric or hybrid): (miles/week) x (country-dependent kg CO2e/mile) x (weeks/month) = kg CO2e / month

Total: Fossil Fuel Car -Lower Emitting Car (electric or hybrid) = kg CO2e / month

For detailed calculations, references and assumptions, please see our Methodology.