Plug-in electric vehicles, including all-electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 5.5 million metric tons in 2021, according to the data released by the Department of Energy (DOE).
The estimates used regional electric grid mixes and EV/PHEV registration locations. Two-thirds of the emissions reduction was attributable to EVs, while the remainder was attributable to PHEVs.
From 2011, the first full year of mass market plug-in vehicle sales in the United States, to 2021, EVs and PHEVs reduced a total of 19.7 million metric tons of CO2.
[source: Argonne National Laboratory, Assessment of Light-Duty Plug-in Electric Vehicles in the United States, 2010–2021, ANL-22/71, 2022]
