Electric Vehicle - Fact Checker

There's a lot of information out there about EVs. It can be hard to sift through all the noise to get straight answers on some of your biggest questions. Here, you'll find straightforward answers and links to read more from reputable sources.

Get the facts on EV technology

  • Ah, the million-dollar question: How green are EVs, really? The debate has gained considerable traction in recent years. Let's get straight down to it:

    EVs can create drastically fewer emissions than gas cars over the life of the vehicle, especially on Vermont’s relatively clean electric grid.

    Primarily due to their batteries, EVs are more carbon-intensive to manufacture than their gas-powered kin. Producing an EV can generate up to twice as many carbon emissions as a regular gas car. Once the EV is made, however, there are no tailpipe emissions.

    According to Energy Action Network, most EVs generate less than 30% of the lifetime carbon emissions as gas-powered cars. In Vermont, given our high rate of renewable power generation, that number is even lower: An all-electric vehicle has just 14% as many lifetime carbon emissions as the comparable gas car. The emission reductions will increase as more low-carbon and renewable electric sources supply the Vermont grid in the future.

    Recurrent, an independent data analysis firm that studies EVs, estimates that EVs become more climate-friendly than gas cars after about two years.

  • Switching from a gas-powered car to an EV can feel like a big change for a lot of reasons, but perhaps nothing is more anxiety-producing than EV range. It seems like you can always find a gas station when you need one, but can you find a charger? The answer is yes!

    If you have a charger at home and you primarily use the vehicle for local and regional travel, it's likely that you will almost never need to use a public charger. Most electric vehicles can travel 200 to 300 miles on a full charge, which is far more than enough for the average Vermonter's daily commute, even considering potential EV range reductions in cold temperatures.

    If you're going on a longer trip or you don’t have charging at home, you'll likely be using public charging. There are over 400 public charging locations in Vermont—the highest per capita in the U.S—and that number is growing. There are several free tools available to plan your route, and many automakers have robust route-planning systems built into their vehicles.

    Most EV owners we've talked with at Drive Electric Vermont have never (seriously, never) run out of juice with nowhere to charge. The science backs this up: Almost 80% of prospective EV owners have range concerns, while most people who actually own an EV have little to no range anxiety. In other words, range anxiety is a much smaller problem than most people think it is.

  • EVs are often substantially cheaper over the life of the car since the cost of driving on electricity is usually much lower than gasoline. Many EVs also offer savings on maintenance costs. Consumer Reports estimates $6,000-10,000 in total ownership savings over the life of most EVs.

    The purchase price of EVs has come down significantly in recent years and is expected to keep falling as more EVs hit the market and technology keeps improving. That said, EVs still tend to have higher sticker prices than comparable gas-powered cars. According to an analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation, new EVs could reach price parity with gas vehicles by 2026 (for 200-mile range EVs) and by 2029 (for 300-mile range EVs).

    Until then, higher EV prices can be mitigated by incentives which often significantly reduce the upfront cost of an EV. By combining the available incentives, you could take up to $10,000 off your purchase. With that price adjustment, the cost of taking home an EV becomes far more competitive with the cost of a gas-powered car. The market for used EVs is growing too, bringing more EVs into an affordable price range for more Vermonters.

  • It's no secret that extractive industries like mining and oil production have a host of negative environmental and human consequences. EVs provide significant environmental benefits, but their batteries do require lithium, graphite, and other minerals. Gas-powered cars—along with many everyday items we rely on like phones, computers, and more—also require significant mineral content.

    Automakers are working with battery manufacturers to develop new battery technologies that improve performance and shift to less impactful ingredients. For example, Tesla, Ford, and other automakers are using lithium-ion phosphate batteries in some of their EVs, which eliminates the financial and environmental cost of cobalt.

    Also, up to 90% of an EV battery can be recycled. Unlike fossil fuels, which can only be used once, the minerals in EV batteries will live longer than any single vehicle. That means the environmental impact of mining for EVs will be much smaller than the colossal impact of our historic and ongoing fossil fuel extraction for gas-powered cars.

  • EVs are some of the safest cars on the road, thanks to their low center of gravity and advanced crash-prevention technology. You might have heard stories about EVs catching on fire, but recent data indicates they actually have a lower risk of fire compared to gas cars.

    Some newer EVs have run into reliability issues in recent years. However, it's important to note that first-generation gas or EV models often have issues that get fixed as production continues. The more seasoned EV manufacturers like Toyota and Tesla have worked out a lot of the initial issues, and other manufacturers are quickly catching up.