Increased EV efficiency isn’t just better for the environment. It’s also better for owners’ wallets, the report says. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
In one new white paperThe group noted that the increased efficiency allowed smaller battery sizeThis helps cut costs. Most electric cars reportedly average 2.5 miles per kilowatt hour, but the Tesla Model Y averages 3.5 miles per kilowatt hour. That’s a 40% increase, assuming similar range, allowing for a 40% reduction in battery size, resulting in a cost savings of up to $4,800, ACEEE explains.
Tesla Model Y 2024 – Powered by Tesla, Inc.
Still, even less efficient EVs can save owners money compared to gasoline-powered cars. At 2.5 miles per kilowatt-hour, ACEEE estimates that annually The charging cost is $960.compared to about $2,000 to fill up a car with gas. But increasing efficiency to 3.5 miles per kilowatt hour would reduce annual charging costs to about $680 a year—a 29% savings.
Higher efficiency also means more EV reach mile range over a given charging period, ACEEE notes. That means drivers could spend less time charging—potentially helping to alleviate range anxiety—and less demand on the grid. This is similar to the findings of a study published earlier this year by the nonprofit utility organization EPRI and the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which found that improving efficiency can cut grid demand from EV up to 20%.
2025 Lucid Air Pure
As ACEEE notes, different automakers have very different attitudes toward efficiency. Lucid has make efficiency is priorityand the result is Clean air The luxury sedan gets 5.0 miles per kilowatt hour, which the automaker claims is the industry standard. At the other end of the spectrum is the GMC Hummer EV, which can only get 1.4 miles per kilowatt hour, according to ACEEE.
The white paper recommends policies to promote more efficient electric vehiclesThese include changing the EPA’s emissions standards to no longer focus solely on tailpipe emissions, a framework that currently treats all electric vehicles the same regardless of efficiency. Purchase incentives could also be adjusted based on efficiency, and registration fees could be based on vehicle weight, as is currently the case in Oklahoma and the District of Columbia, the paper suggests.
