It’s good for the planet to scrap a new petrol car and buy electric
Carbon savings from driving EVs are so large that it makes sense to scrap a working petrol car to make the switch
A recent study has found that swapping a new petrol car for an electric vehicle (EV) is far more environmentally friendly, even if the petrol car is only a few years old. While EVs require more energy to manufacture, they produce significantly lower emissions during use compared to combustion engine vehicles. Researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and UC Santa Barbara analyzed the emissions impact of replacing a fossil fuel car with an EV at various stages, from a brand new gas vehicle to one nearing the end of its life.
Their findings show that, in almost all situations, switching to an EV would result in a substantial reduction in overall climate impact. This holds true except in scenarios where the electricity grid heavily relies on coal power or when a fossil fuel car is driven less than 7000 km per year. The study's authors suggest that scrappage schemes, which provide financial incentives for people to replace older petrol cars with EVs, could accelerate the transition to electric vehicles and help reduce transportation emissions.
Written by urgent.news from New Scientist's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
