A new study by J. Elliott Campbell and Roland Geyer compares the environmental impact of continuing to operate combustion vehicles versus replacing them with battery-electric vehicles, finding that retiring combustion vehicles early and replacing them with EVs can reduce cumulative emissions by 44% over a 16-year period. The study emphasizes the importance of early retirement of internal combustion vehicles in reducing emissions and highlights the need to target high-mileage pickups and inefficient SUVs for scrappage payments. A modern vehicle-retirement program should incentivize the retirement of high-emission vehicles while promoting the availability of affordable transportation options, including used EVs, to accelerate fleet turnover towards electric vehicles without compromising access to affordable transportation.
https://cleantechnica.com/2026/08/16/scrapping-working-gas-car-for-ev-can-be-greener/