Emissions Reductions from Electrifying High-Mileage Vehicles

Abstract

This paper evaluates a strategy that would target sales of internal combustion vehicles driven at high annual mileage for displacement by electric vehicles at the time of initial sale. Using the 2017 National Household Travel Survey data, we observe that the top 20% of light duty vehicles by kilometers traveled generate 46% of the annual greenhouse gas emissions. Displacing the sale of a combustion engine vehicle in the top mileage quintile with an electric vehicle would reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions and certain criteria pollutants by more than 15 times as much as displacing a vehicle in the bottom mileage quintile.