Promote Electric Vehicles

The typical car engine is remarkably inefficient. For every 10 gallons of gas, only 2 actually move the vehicle forward; the rest are used to power machinery or idle in traffic. Each gallon burned releases pollution linked to respiratory disease and climate change.

Electric cars, in contrast, require no gas, release no tailpipe emissions, and cost less money to drive. That’s why NRDC is working to get more of them on the road.

In California, we helped launch the Charge Ahead California initiative to bring one million electric cars, trucks, and buses to the streets by 2025. We push for similar programs in other states: Oregon, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, and Maryland. Together, these seven states and California, which represent 25 percent of the new car market, aim to put drivers behind the wheel of 3.3 million electric cars in the next decade.

By pushing for more electric cars on the road, we are helping low-income families, who often live near pollution-clogged highways, and clean-running vehicles help clear the air. NRDC has also partnered with environmental justice groups to make electric cars more affordable. With smart incentives in place, the prices of many electric car models are reduced to under $20,000. They also cost drivers less to operate than gas-powered cars.

To accelerate the shift to electric vehicles, NRDC advocates for policies that will integrate them with the power grid in ways that benefit both their drivers and electricity customers as a whole. When smartly managed, not only can electric vehicles make more efficient use of excessive off-peak power plants, but they can also help scale up generation of renewables such as wind and solar. Widespread vehicle electrification and renewable power are key elements to clean energy future.