“Had most of California’s vehicles been electric by 2017, we estimate that its drivers would have saved around US$25 billion that year in fuel costs – based on the average prices for electricity and gasoline.” wrote authors Todd Davidson,
As part of a major energy infrastructure study, the researchers assessed the amount of electricity every state would need to charge an electrified fleet of personal cars, trucks, and SUVs.
The research team first estimated the amount of gasoline consumed in every country and then used the vehicle miles traveled to calculate how much electricity EVs would need to travel the same distance.
Key Findings:
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American drivers travel 3 trillion miles every year, consuming more than 170 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel.
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Though the US electric grid has evolved over the years, a rapid EV transition would put pressure on the current infrastructure.
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If all passenger cars in Texas and California were electrified today, the additional electricity demand would result in a 30% and 50% increase over current consumption in Texas and California respectively.
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Upgrading electricity infrastructure to meet the demand of EV fleet could cost tens of billions of dollars in Texas and even more in California.
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While EVs increase the amount of electricity consumption in the United States, the investment required to upgrade the infrastructure is smaller than it appears.
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According to the research team, had most of California’s vehicles been electric in 2017, drivers would have saved around US$25 billion in fuel costs, based on the average prices for electricity and gasoline.”
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Read the full study at theconversation.com
