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Do electric cars use fewer fossil fuels?

I’m trying to make some big lifestyle changes to become more eco-friendly, and looking into buying an electric car is the next step for me. Do electric cars really consume fewer fossil fuels than gas cars?

avatar
Allison Stone · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
One of the biggest reasons for switching to an
electric car
is to adopt a more eco-friendly lifestyle, but consumers often wonder just how eco-friendly electric cars are.
It’s true that electric cars don’t produce
tailpipe emissions
, but they are powered by the grid, which receives energy from many different sources.
Depending on where you live, the electric power from your energy grid could come from renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power, but it could just as easily come from fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas refineries.
That being said, even if the electricity you use to charge your car comes from fossil fuels, you’re still probably consuming fewer fossil fuels than you would with a gas-powered car 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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