Economic and Climate Benefits of Electric Vehicles in China, the United States, and Germany

Mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is widely viewed as essential to address climate change and requires a compelling case for ownership worldwide. While the manufacturing costs and technical capabilities of EVs are similar across regions, customer needs and economic contexts vary widely. Asses...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2019-09, Vol.53 (18), p.11013-11022
Main Authors: He, Xiaoyi, Zhang, Shaojun, Wu, Ye, Wallington, Timothy J, Lu, Xi, Tamor, Michael A, McElroy, Michael B, Zhang, K. Max, Nielsen, Chris P, Hao, Jiming
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Automobile industry
Batteries
Climate change
Customers
Economics
Electric vehicles
Emissions
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Production costs
Regional development
Subsidies
Travel
Travel patterns
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Summary:Mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is widely viewed as essential to address climate change and requires a compelling case for ownership worldwide. While the manufacturing costs and technical capabilities of EVs are similar across regions, customer needs and economic contexts vary widely. Assessments of the all-electric-range required to cover day-to-day driving demand, and the climate and economic benefits of EVs, need to account for differences in regional characteristics and individual travel patterns. To meet this need travel profiles for 1681 light-duty passenger vehicles in China, the U.S., and Germany were used to make the first consistent multiregional comparison of customer and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission benefits of EVs. We show that despite differences in fuel prices, driving patterns, and subsidies, the economic benefits/challenges of EVs are generally similar across regions. Individuals who are economically most likely to adopt EVs have GHG benefits that are substantially greater than for average drivers. Such “priority” EV customers have large (32%–63%) reductions in cradle-to-grave GHG emissions. It is shown that low battery costs (below approximately $100/kWh) and a portfolio of EV offerings are required for mass adoption of electric vehicles.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/acs.est.9b00531