Americans Increasingly Don’t Believe EVs Are Cleaner Than ICE Cars

There are more electric vehicles on US roads than there were two years ago, but the number of American drivers who believe EVs are greener than ICE cars has fallen over the same period.

Research by Ipsos and shared with NPR found that only 58 percent of US drivers today think EVs are cleaner, versus 63 percent of drivers in 2022. And that’s despite multiple independent investigations proving that electric cars are greener.

Related: EVs Pollute 30% Less Than ICE Over Lifetime, But Only After 56K Miles

EVs aren’t perfectly clean, of course. They might not emit tailpipe nasties but there’s the question of where the electricity that powers electric cars comes from and how it’s generated to consider, as well as the grubby secret that is the environmentally unfriendly process of extracting minerals from the ground that go into an EV’s battery.

But even accounting for those factors, EVs have been shown to be significantly greener, yet American drivers are increasingly not buying it. And it’s precisely the people who aren’t buying EVs and have no plan to, who are behind the cynicism, and the growth of it. Those who own EVs or are seriously considering one, however, remain convinced of the green credentials of electric cars.

One of the reasons for the increased skepticism appears to be the limited media coverage given to studies proving that EVs are greener, while other research highlighting the negative environmental impact of electric vehicles tends to grab plenty of headlines, and is sometimes distorted.

NPR highlights the example of a study that found that EVs produce more toxic tire emissions because they are heavier and get through their tires at a faster rate than gas cars. The New York Post wrote up the story with the headline “Electric vehicles release more toxic emissions, are worse for the environment than gas-powered cars: study,” which is misleading because the author of the study was only looking at tire and brake emissions and didn’t consider the tailpipe kind.

At least one study, however, has concluded that ICE (or at least hybrid) cars really can be greener than EVs. This year’s ACEEE GreenerCars report claimed that the Toyota Prius Prime SE was the most ecologically sound car on sale in America, and placed it ahead of seven EVs. And last year another study suggested that while EVs were greener throughout their lifespan, they didn’t offset their initial eco debt until they’d reached 56,000 miles (90,000 km).