Electric Vehicle Carbon Savings Calculator

Compare lifetime emissions of an electric vehicle against a petrol equivalent.

About Electric Vehicle Carbon Savings Calculator

An EV carries a manufacturing carbon debt from its battery that is repaid through lower running emissions. On a typical European grid the payback is around two years, but on a coal-heavy grid it takes far longer. Grid intensity determines the whole answer: the same vehicle can cut emissions by 70 per cent or barely 20 depending on where it is charged.

Formula

Electric Vehicle Carbon Savings

EV emissions = kWh × grid intensity; petrol emissions = litres × 2.31 kg/L

2.31 kg/L: CO2 released per litre of petrol burned
carbon payback: Years of use needed to offset battery manufacturing emissions

Worked example

With the default values below, Electric Vehicle Carbon Savings Calculator returns Lifetime Carbon Saving of 8.712. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Annual distanceminimum 0 km: 12,000 km
EV consumptionminimum 1 kWh/100km: 17 kWh/100km
Grid carbon intensityminimum 0 kg/kWh: 0.23 kg/kWh
Petrol consumptionminimum 0.1 L/100km: 7 L/100km
Battery manufacturing emissionsminimum 0 t CO2e: 6 t CO2e
Years ownedaccepts 1–30 years: 10 years

Results

Lifetime Carbon Saving: 8.712 t CO2e
EV Annual Emissions: 469.2 kg CO2e
Petrol Annual Emissions: 1,940.4 kg CO2e
Years to Offset Battery Manufacturing: 4.08 years
Emissions Reduction: 75.8%

Step by step

1Values used
2Electric Vehicle Carbon Savings
3Lifetime Carbon Saving= 8.712 t CO2e
4EV Annual Emissions= 469.2 kg CO2e
5Petrol Annual Emissions= 1,940.4 kg CO2e
6Years to Offset Battery Manufacturing= 4.08 years
7Emissions Reduction= 75.8

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 6 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or fees or charges into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Electric Vehicle Carbon Savings calculated?

EV emissions = kWh × grid intensity; petrol emissions = litres × 2.31 kg/L An EV carries a manufacturing carbon debt from its battery that is repaid through lower running emissions. On a typical European grid the payback is around two years, but on a coal-heavy grid it takes far longer.

Why does Electric Vehicle Carbon Savings matter?

Grid intensity determines the whole answer: the same vehicle can cut emissions by 70 per cent or barely 20 depending on where it is charged.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 6 inputs: Annual distance, EV consumption, Grid carbon intensity, Petrol consumption, Battery manufacturing emissions, Years owned. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.