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Are electric cars carbon neutral?

The environment is important to me, and I’ve been on a personal journey to reduce my own carbon footprint as much as I can. Whenever I have the chance in my daily life, I try to switch to the more eco-friendly option, which is why I’ve been considering finally making the change to an electric car. Are electric cars carbon neutral?

avatar
Allison Stone · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
One of the biggest reasons for switching to an
electric car
is often that the consumer is looking to be more environmentally friendly, but you’re not the only person to wonder how much truth there is behind this selling point. Even without producing
tailpipe emissions
, electric cars are powered by the grid, the energy for which may in fact come from power plants that are using non-renewable energy such as coal or natural gas.
Even when accounting for the electricity used to charge them, electric cars generally have a smaller carbon footprint than their gas-powered counterparts according to the
EPA
.
If you’re really curious, you can even calculate an estimate of the total greenhouse gas emissions for your prospective electric car with
this handy calculator
from the U.S. government’s official source for fuel economy information.
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