Indirect emissions from electric vehicles: emissions from electricity generation

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from passenger cars represent an important and growing contributor to climate change. Increasing the proportion of electric vehicles (EVs) in passenger car fleets could help to reduce these emissions, but their ability to do this depends on the fuel mix used in generating the electricity that energises EVs. This study analyzes the indirect well-to-wheels CO₂ emissions from EVs when run in the US, the UK, and France and compares these to well-to-wheels emission data for a selection of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). The study also compares the well-to-wheels emissions of the existing passenger car fleet in each country to a hypothetical EV fleet with the average electricity generation requirements of the three EVs considered in this analysis.