EPA Stopped Updating the Data Behind Electric Vehicle Emissions. The Numbers Still Show EVs are Winners

The Equation Read More [[{“value”:”

There is no question about the impact that EVs will have on reducing climate-changing emissions. Replacing gasoline with electricity greatly reduces carbon emissions from driving, even when emissions from generating electricity are included. Based on where EVs have been sold, driving the average electric vehicle in the US produces heat-trapping emissions equal to a hypothetical 100 mile per gallon gasoline car, or about one quarter of the emissions from driving the average new gasoline vehicle. Building an EV does take more energy than building a gasoline car, mostly because of the battery, but our previous lifecycle analysis found the average EV makes up that difference in under 18,000 miles of driving and still produces less than half the lifetime emissions of a comparable gasoline car.

The fact that driving an EV is cleaner than driving a gasoline car is not news to anyone following this issue in the last decade. UCS has been reporting on this issue since 2012 and over that time emissions from electricity generation have fallen significantly as coal use has declined and renewable energy has increased greatly.

Missing data complicates this year’s analysis

However, this year’s update of our EV analysis revealed a troubling trend that goes beyond transportation; while the raw data about pollutant emissions from electricity generation is still available, the compiled dataset we rely on is no longer being produced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In every other analysis we’ve done on the climate change benefits of switching from gasoline to electricity we have relied on the US EPA’s Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database, or eGRID.

EPA itself calls eGRID “the preeminent source of U.S. power sector data and a primary source of U.S. emission rates for organizations reporting location-based, Scope 2 emissions,” and describes it as “valuable to those in the Federal Government, state and local governments, non-governmental organizations, companies, and academia”. State and local governments rely on it for emission inventories and electricity labeling programs, and it supplies the electricity emission factors in EPA’s own ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, which companies and cities use to benchmark building energy use. It’s also the data behind our own EV Emissions Tool and more than a decade of UCS analysis.

While no announcement has been made on the discontinuation of the eGRID reporting, EPA’s website lists the next update as happening in January of 2026 with no further information.

This isn’t a one-off occurrence though. Here at UCS, we’ve documented 579 examples of the Trump administration interfering in federal science, several where the Trump administration has shut off the flow of information from federal agencies by ⁠halting data collection, ⁠deleting datasets, and ⁠suppressing scientific guidance. For the case of eGRID data, we were still able to calculate EV emissions through the foresight of EPA staff to make the eGRID methods available under an open source license and the work of the Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative to gather the needed input data and produce a validated 2024 eGRID dataset (2024 represents the most recent data available using this methodology).

The average EV is better than the average gasoline car everywhere in the US

Wherever you plug in, the average EV is cleaner than the average new gasoline car. In grid regions covering 96 percent of the United States population, it beats the most efficient gasoline car you can buy.

Heat-trapping emissions from driving the average new electric vehicle, expressed as the fuel economy a gasoline car would need to match it. Driving the average EV means fewer heat-trapping emissions than the most efficient gasoline vehicle (57 mpg) in grid regions home to 96 percent of the US population. Based on current EV sales, driving the average EV in the US has emissions equal to a hypothetical 100 mpg gasoline car. The average new model year 2024 gasoline vehicle sold in the US achieved 25.6 mpg.

When we compare driving on electricity versus gasoline, we consider the heat-trapping emissions that occur in producing and using those fuels. For a fully electric EV, that means:

Emissions that result from raw material extraction, such as coal mining and natural gas drilling;
Emissions from delivering these fuels to power plants;
Emissions from burning those fuels in power plants to generate electricity;
Electricity losses that occur during distribution from power plants to the point where the electric vehicle is plugged in; and
The efficiency of the vehicle in using electricity.

Similarly, our assessment of the heat-trapping emissions from comparable gasoline vehicles addresses emissions that result from:

Oil extraction at the well;
Transporting crude oil to a refinery;
Refining oil into gasoline;
Delivering fuel to gas stations; and
Combusting fuel in the vehicle’s engine.

The emissions from driving an EV depend on where the electricity comes from to recharge it, and that depends on where in the country you’re recharging. In places with a relatively clean grid, emissions from driving an EV are very low. For example, driving an EV in upstate NY is equal to a 219 mpg gasoline car, or less than 12 percent of the average new gasoline vehicle emissions.

Even where the grid still has significant fossil fuel-powered generation, EVs are a cleaner choice. In the grid region that serves most of Texas, driving the average EV produces emissions equal to an 87 mpg gasoline car, despite over 60% of electricity generation coming from fossil fuels.

California currently has the lowest state-level emissions for driving an EV

While our analysis uses the eGRID electric generation regions shown on the map above, we can also estimate a state average, using the relative population in each grid region within a state’s boundaries to account for states that are served by more than one eGRID generation region. While upstate New York has the cleanest grid, California has the lowest emissions when looking at a state average. Driving the average EV in California has emissions equal to a 164 mpg gasoline car, or less than one sixth the emissions of the average new model year 2024 gasoline car. The results can also be expressed directly as climate-changing emissions, measured in grams of CO₂ equivalent per mile. Driving an EV in California results in 64 g/mi of climate-changing emissions, compared to 409 g/mi for the average new gasoline car when considering both tailpipe emissions and those from producing and delivering gasoline.

Heat-trapping emissions from driving the average new electric vehicle, expressed as the fuel economy a gasoline car would need to match it. The value at the state level reflects an average of the grid regions within the state’s boundaries. Higher values mean lower emissions.

The same data shown as climate-changing emissions rather than fuel economy: grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per mile from driving the average new EV, including emissions from generating the electricity and extracting fuels. California is lowest at 64 g CO₂ equivalent/mile and Hawaii highest at 209 g/mi, still well below 409 g/mi of the average new gasoline car when including oil extraction and refining.

Driving an efficient EV maximizes emissions benefits from switching to electricity

EVs vary in efficiency, with the most efficient EVs going more than 4 miles on one kilowatt-hour of electricity while some electric pickup trucks get about 2 miles of driving on the same amount of energy. One kilowatt-hour is roughly what it takes to run an electric oven for 30 minutes or brew about nine pots of coffee. Choosing a more efficient EV that meets your driving needs will reduce the emissions from driving. For example, charging the average EV in Michigan means effective emissions equal to a 62 mpg gasoline car, while choosing an EV like the Lucid Air can reduce emissions to that of an 87 mpg conventional vehicle. And of course, a more efficient EV will also cost less to recharge.

Choosing an efficient EV overcomes the effect of dirtier grid regions. Charged in the state with the highest emissions grid in the country, the most efficient EV sold, a 2026 Lucid Air Pure, still returns 70 mpg-equivalent, beating the best gasoline car everywhere in the country without exception. In California it reaches 230 mpg. Higher values mean lower emissions.

Emissions per mile for the most efficient EV on the market. The range runs from 46 g/mi in California to 149 g/mi in Hawaii, much better than the best gasoline-only car at 184 g/mi. All calculations include emissions upstream from the car (electricity generation and fuel extraction for EVs and oil extraction and refining for gasoline vehicles)

Driving on electricity is better, for trips that require a car

Switching from gasoline to electricity can sharply cut climate-changing emissions and accelerating that shift is essential to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. But the cleanest car trip is still the one you do not have to take. Replacing some car trips with public transit, e-bikes, walking, or a traditional bike can reduce pollution even further or even avoid tailpipe pollution and climate-changing emissions altogether. Our current transportation system makes it hard for many people to leave the car behind for every trip but using lower-emission options even part of the time can make a meaningful difference.

Notes on calculations

The analysis presented in this blog uses the methods detailed in the 2022 report “Driving Cleaner”, with the following modifications:

The data source for electricity generation was updated to reflect 2024 emissions data, using EPA’s eGRID methodology. The analysis was performed by Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative in March 2026 as production of the eGRID database has been paused by EPA, with no status known. EPA’s eGRID website lists a next planned release of “eGRID2024 in
January of 2026,” but as of July 2026 that release has not been posted and eGRID2023 remains the most recent EPA version.
State-level emissions were estimated by using a population-weighted average of eGRID subregions, based on EPA’s designation of primary grid region at the ZIP code level.
Upstream emissions factors now use the GREET2025 database from Argonne National Laboratory. (downloaded May 1, 2026)
Small-scale solar (residential and commercial) that is not included in eGRID has been estimated using the state-level data from the Energy Information Agency’s Electric Power Monthly (table 1.17B) report and allocated to grid subregions using population-weighted averages based on EPA’s ZIP code subregion assignments.
The average EV efficiency and location of EV sales (for the sales-weighted national emissions estimate) have been updated to reflect EV sales from 2016 through 2025 based on data from Atlas Public Policy.
The most efficient gasoline vehicle available is rated at 57 mpg: the highest combined fuel economy among gasoline-only (non-plug-in) model year 2026–2027 vehicles, the 2026 Toyota Prius (2.0L 4-cylinder, front-wheel drive). That is the benchmark behind the comparisons in this post, including the share of the population living where the average EV has lower heat-trapping emissions than any gasoline car on the market.

“}]]