Two New Reports Confirm the Dramatic Benefits of Zero Emitting Vehicles – More Jobs, Less Pollution, Consumer Savings

(Washington, D.C. – January 26, 2021) Two new reports that Environmental Defense Fund has released or commissioned show the significant opportunity that clean cars have for America’s public health, environment, and jobs.

“Automakers are investing in zero-emitting vehicles, models are increasing and costs are rapidly declining,” said EDF senior director of transportation and methane policy Peter Zalzal. “These dramatic shifts in the market underscore the enormous opportunity associated with protective clean car standards and complementary societal investments. Eliminating climate and health-harming pollution from new cars can boost jobs, save consumers thousands of dollars, and save thousands of lives.”

Today, EDF released the report Clean Cars, Clean Air, Consumer Savings. It evaluates the benefits associated with pollution standards and complementary societal investments that ensure all new passenger vehicles sold by 2035 are zero-emitting.

Key findings include:

• By 2030, the buyer of a new battery electric vehicle will save more than $7,200 over the life of the car compared to a gasoline-powered car. A new 2030 battery electric vehicle will also deliver nearly $8,000 in additional societal benefits as a result of reduced climate and particulate pollution, which will increase the total net benefits to more than $15,000 per vehicle.
• By 2040, these pollution safeguards will reduce annual climate pollution by 600 million metric tons and also significantly reduce smog and particulate pollution – dangerous substances that disproportionately burden people of color.
• The reductions in smog and particulate pollution will prevent as many as 5,000 premature deaths each year by 2040 – and a total of 98,000 lives saved by 2050.
• By 2050, these safeguards will deliver more than $100 billion in net societal benefits each year and provide $1.6 trillion in cumulative net benefits to Americans by 2050 – almost 10% of the U.S. gross domestic product.

You can read the full report here.

M.J. Bradley and Associates also released its latest Electric Vehicle Market Status Report yesterday. It’s the third in a series of reports EDF has commissioned to track the current status and projected growth of the U.S. electric vehicle industry, including light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles.

The updated report found that “the automotive industry has embraced the vision of electrified mobility and that the [electric vehicle] market is on the cusp of a period of significant growth.”

According to the report:

• Carmakers worldwide will spend more than $257 billion through 2030 developing new electric models, including more than $22 billion to open new or renovated plants in the U.S.
• The electric vehicle industry employed almost 130,000 people across the U.S. in 2019. (That number more than doubled when jobs associated with hybrids and other types of clean cars were included.)
• The expected new or renovated U.S. plants will directly employ another 24,000 people.
• California, Michigan, and Texas are currently the top three states for clean vehicle jobs.
• Between 2021 and 2023, the number of electric cars available to U.S. consumers will increase from 60 to 76, and will include SUV’s and pick-up trucks.
• At least four of those models will cost less than $30,000 without factoring in federal or state incentives.
• In 2021, there are 44 medium-duty electrified models, 24 heavy-duty models, and over 40 bus models offered across a range of vehicle vocations, and this number will continue to grow in coming years.
• The cost of batteries for electric cars has fallen dramatically – from more than $1,000 per kilowatt-hour in 2010 to approximately $137 per kilowatt-hour in 2020. By 2030, they are expected to be as low as $61 per kilowatt-hour.

You can read the full report here.