Are You a Super Driver? Some States Want to Help You Go Electric

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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/17/climate/electric-vehicles-high-mileage-drivers.html

By Brad Plumer, The New York Times. 

Excerpt: A small share of motorists [who drive, on average, about 110 miles per day] burns about a third of America’s gasoline, a study found. If more of those drivers switched to electric vehicles from gasoline-powered models, it would make a major dent in greenhouse gases from transportation, which have so far been slow to decline, according to a new analysis published on Wednesday by Coltura, an environmental nonprofit group based in Seattle. While the average American driver travels about 13,400 miles per year, people who buy electric vehicles today tend to drive them less than that, limiting the climate benefits of switching to a cleaner car. By contrast, the top 10 percent of motorists in the United States drive an average of about 40,200 miles per year and account for roughly one-third of the nation’s gasoline use. Persuading more of these “gasoline superusers” to go electric would lead to a much faster reduction in emissions, the Coltura report found. ...That includes people like Pedro Jimenez, 40, who ...can “easily” travel around 150 to 200 miles per day to different job sites.... He ...typically spends around $200 to $300 per week on gas...a quarter or more of his pay. ...Mr. Jimenez said he recently started thinking about buying an electric pickup truck as a way to save money. ...Around 21 million Americans account for 35 percent of the nation’s gasoline use from private light-duty vehicles — cars, pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, vans and minivans. That’s more gasoline than is burned each year in Brazil, Canada and Russia combined.... 

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