To effectively fight climate change, we must tackle the largest source of carbon pollution in Virginia: transportation.¹ Virginians’ personal vehicles collectively emit more carbon pollution than our power plants.² Vehicles are also major sources of harmful tailpipe pollution that has been linked to respiratory and heart diseases and premature death.^3,4 Diesel trucks are especially harmful, with pollution from freight disproportionately impacting communities of color and low-income communities.⁵ Students suffer exposure to these pollutants daily on Virginia’s diesel school buses.

While the most important strategy to reduce pollution from vehicles is to help reduce driving overall (see TRANSFORMING TRANSPORTATION), we must also rapidly transition our remaining driving to electric vehicles (EVs), which have zero harmful tailpipe emissions. Electricity to power an EV emits less than one-sixth of the carbon pollution of an equivalent gas-powered vehicle, and will emit even less over time as Virginia’s electrical grid becomes cleaner.⁶

Cleaner vehicles will also save Virginians money. EVs require significantly less maintenance than gas cars.⁷ EV drivers typically spend the equivalent of $1.28 per gallon for a full charge in Virginia.⁸ Owning an EV will save an average driver $6,000 to $12,000 over the lifetime of the vehicle.⁹

However, the benefits of EVs are not equally accessible to all drivers in Virginia. More affordable models of EVs are not always available at local dealerships. People living in rural areas, multi-unit housing, and rental properties often have limited charging options. Public EV charging infrastructure, which has grown dramatically in the past few years, still has gaps that the free market has been slow to fill, and the federal government is pulling back historic investments to support EVs and expand the public charging network. This highlights the need for state-level leadership to maintain progress and protect access to clean transportation.

In 2021, the General Assembly adopted the Clean Cars Standards, which requires the Commonwealth to implement standards that would bring more affordable electric vehicles to Virginia and improve public health by reducing tailpipe pollution. Despite this legislative mandate, the Governor announced his administration would stop implementing the Clean Cars Standards at the end of 2024.¹⁰ Regardless of its implementation status, there are other steps Virginia can take to accelerate transportation electrification.

A comprehensive, statewide public charging network is necessary to make EVs work for every driver and every trip by supporting longer journeys. Today, rural and exurban areas have fewer convenient public charging options than urban areas and along major highways. Additionally, single-family home owners can more easily install EV charging infrastructure and take advantage of residential utility rates, whereas people who live in apartments, townhomes, and buildings without dedicated parking may not have a convenient and cost-effective option to charge their EVs.

Utilities are also key to making EV charging more convenient and affordable. Electricity use patterns will change as home charging and public charging become more common, and anticipating the change in patterns is essential to the opportunity that EVs provide to the grid. With the right policies in place, Virginia can meet its energy needs, transition quickly to EVs, and even reduce the electricity rates that all customers pay, including under rapid adoption scenarios.¹¹

Image Credit: Generation180

The market is shifting towards EVs, but our climate and our health require a more rapid transition. A suite of policies, in addition to the Clean Car Standards, could both bring more affordable EVs to Virginia and make it more convenient to charge them at home and across the state while supporting the electric grid.

Proactively planning for EV adoption and design policies that encourage grid-beneficial EV adoption can reduce the utility costs of preparing the grid for EVs. Demand-side management strategies like EV-specific rate designs, managed charging, and vehicle-to-grid integration can help to manage the impact of EVs on the grid and even improve grid stability.¹² However, these benefits will only be realized with proactive and comprehensive planning.

Another significant barrier to EV adoption is equitable access to charging infrastructure, both in urban and rural areas. Policies could support the installation of EV charging stations or EV-ready parking spaces at workplaces or multi-unit dwellings like apartment complexes, where residents currently have limited ability or incentive to install their charging infrastructure.¹³ This policy could be complemented by a buildout of public charging across the Commonwealth, with a focus on rural and underserved areas. New single-family homes could be required to have electric panels with enough capacity to support adding an EV charger.

Some of the most significant benefits of EVs come from transitioning major fleets to zero-emission fuels. Nearly one million Virginia students are transported daily on the Commonwealth’s 16,000 school buses.¹⁴ Phasing out fossil fuel school buses will help protect Virginia students, reducing asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Currently, approximately 3 percent of Virginia’s school buses are electric (or planned to transition to electric).¹⁵ Fully implementing the 2022 total cost of ownership law, which requires state agencies to consider the full lifetime cost of vehicles when making fleet purchases, could gradually replace state-owned gas-powered cars with EVs while saving taxpayer dollars.

EV Charging Stations in Virginia

Image Credit: Southern Environmental Law Center

¹ Greenhouse Gases. Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, https://perma.cc/BY8Q-FDVG

² State carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels tables: Virginia. (n.d.). U.S. Energy Information Administration. https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/state/

³ The Road to Clean Air: Benefits of a Nationwide Transition to Electric Vehicles. American Lung Association. https://perma.cc/T5SK-AGKR

⁴ Demetillo, M. A. G., et al. (2021). Space-based observational constraints on NO₂ air pollution inequality from diesel traffic in major U.S. cities. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(17). https://perma.cc/3ZT2-CFSH

⁵ Diesel Engines and Public Health. (2022, February 11). Union of Concerned Scientists. https://perma.cc/73ZV-V5SB

⁶ Alternative Fuels Data Center: Emissions from Electric Vehicles. (2022). U.S. Department of Energy. https://perma.cc/5W5J-BQDW

⁷ Preston, B. (September 26, 2020). Pay Less for Vehicle Maintenance with an EV. Consumer Reports. https://www.consumerreports.org/car-repair-maintenance/pay-less-for-vehicle-maintenance-with-an-ev/

⁸ Kirk, K. (January 8, 2024). Gasoline Is Cheap Right Now — but Charging an EV Is Still Cheaper. Yale Climate Connections. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/01/gasoline-is-cheap-right-now-but-charging-an-ev-is-still-cheaper/

⁹ ELECTRIC VEHICLES SAVE CONSUMERS MONEY. (June 2023). Consumer Reports. https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CR_EVSavings_FACTSHEET_6.2023.pdf

¹⁰ Driving Down Pollution. (2024). Southern Environmental Law Center. https://perma.cc/T5QW-RP33

¹¹  Driving Down Pollution. (2024). Southern Environmental Law Center. https://perma.cc/T5QW-RP33

¹² Policy proposals governing public electric utility programs to accelerate widespread transportation electrification in the Commonwealth. (2022). Virginia State Corporation Commission. https://rga.lis.virginia.gov/Published/2022/HD8

¹³ Wood, E., et al. (2023, June). The 2030 national charging network: Estimating U.S. light-duty demand for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. https://perma.cc/D3RA-JLCQ

¹⁴ Pupil Transportation. (2022). Virginia Department of Education. https://www.doe.virginia.gov/programs-services/school-operations-support-services/pupil-transportation

¹⁵ Map of electric school bus adoption in Virginia. (n.d.). Generation180. https://generation180.org/resource/map-of-electric-school-bus-adoption-in-virginia