Fig. 5: The graph illustrates the minimum mileage (x-axis) a BEV must be driven to achieve a lower life-cycle carbon footprint than a HEV, given an average carbon footprint for electricity (y-axis). | Communications Earth & Environment

Fig. 5: The graph illustrates the minimum mileage (x-axis) a BEV must be driven to achieve a lower life-cycle carbon footprint than a HEV, given an average carbon footprint for electricity (y-axis).

From: Battery electric vehicles show the lowest carbon footprints among passenger cars across 1.5–3.0 °C energy decarbonisation pathways

Fig. 5

The analysis includes all 16 regions, four future scenarios, and the “No scenario” option, considering vehicle lifetimes of 10, 15, and 20 years. Results were calculated across various mileages for BEV and HEV models produced in 2025. The breakeven mileages could be determined given the scores over different mileages and the average electricity carbon intensity for each region, scenario, and lifetime. Each point represents a unique region, scenario, and lifetime combination. The Medium SUV size was chosen as it represents the case where the differences between BEV and HEV are the smallest, while other vehicle sizes tend to show larger differences. Other vehicle sizes would result in lower breakeven mileage with lower carbon intensities. The scatter in the data points is due to variations in the average carbon intensity of electricity and the diesel supply for the HEV. For instance, in regions with similar average carbon intensity, a lower carbon footprint from diesel supply will result in the BEV needing to be driven further to reach the breakeven point with the HEV since the HEV.

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