Electric Vehicles as Decarbonizing Tools – Gasoline & Diesel Comparisons

Utilizing TVA grid mix data and various fuel economies, as well as the DOE’s AFLEET tool, switching a light-duty, gasoline vehicle in Tennessee to an EV generates an almost 70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

KNOXVILLE, TN – Several mini-sessions were held during the 2022 Drive Electric TN (DET) “Momentum Summit” that took place on November 7, 2022 (see here). One of those sessions had the title “EVs as Decarbonizing Tools – Gasoline & Diesel Comparisons” and utilized the U.S. DOE “AFLEET Online” tool and generated multiple comparisons of different fuel economy gasoline-powered and electric vehicles.

The presentation is shown below. Based on the assumptions made, replacing your average light-duty gasoline vehicle with a battery (all) electric vehicle (BEV) using TVA’s current grid mix results in a 68.5% reduction in the generation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Using a simpler set of assumption for a medium-duty diesel vehicles yielded a slightly higher reduction in GHGs.

In our collective efforts to reduce GHG emissions planet-wide, that is an excellent and very significant step forward, especially in Tennessee were our transportation-related GHG emissions account for 50.3% of Tennessee’s total GHG emissions – the 7th highest in the country (see Table 3 here [“emissions by sector”] in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s online “Energy-Related CO₂ Emission Data Tables“).

Moving Tennesseans to driving EVs (or anything else that generates a 70-ish percent reduction in GHG emissions) should become one of our highest priorities.