Fueling Vehicles with Electricity

Americans send about a third of a trillion dollars overseas to pay for oil every year and oil imports are responsible for 50% of our trade deficit.  Whether oil is domestic or imported, our economy remains at the mercy of rising and volatile oil prices set by global demand.

By contrast, car and truck innovation provides Americans with real options to cope with high gas prices, while electric vehicles (EVs) free households and businesses from the gas pump altogether.  EVs bring real energy diversity to the transportation sector while EV drivers can fill up on domestic electricity at a cost equivalent of approximately $1 per gallon.

At the same time electric vehicles (EVs) also improve local air quality, improve our energy security, and help combat climate change.  The US transportation sector is responsible for a third of US global warming pollution and as well as local smog, and asthma related pollution.  EVs have little or no tailpipe pollution and are responsible for less pollution than comparable gas vehicles overall—even including the emissions from the electricity needed to charge them.  And as we invest in cleaning up our electric sector, we simultaneously make our EVs cleaner and cleaner.

EVs are here today. The Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf and Tesla Roadster are in dealerships now, and over the next two years virtually every automaker will introduce a plug-in electric or plug-in hybrid car or truck.  Today, strong public and private investment in US electric vehicles, component, and battery manufacturing as well as in EV-related infrastructure is transforming the US competitive position in the global advanced battery industry, and helps support innovation in many kinds of advanced vehicles. The US is showing we can replace oil dollars draining out of our economy with jobs in technology innovation and manufacturing at home.

By getting EVs rolling, more than half the miles we drive could be electric by 2030.

NWF is working with many partners to:
• Strengthen national, regional, and local efforts to facilitate EV adoption by individuals and fleets,
• Remove bureaucratic and market obstacles to EVs and EV charging, and
• Ensure US leadership in manufacturing of EVs, batteries, and components.

Resources

For answers to frequently asked questions about EV’s see our factsheet:  
EV Myths vs. Facts

To see more of what’s happening on EV’s nationwide see:
• EDTA
• DOE Clean Cities