Electric car: We’re doomed, we drive too much

Some studies and testimonials suggest that electric vehicle owners drive more than those with conventional cars. Here’s an analysis.

Since I started driving an electric car, I’ve noticed that my annual mileage has almost doubled. When I drove a conventional car, I covered about 10,000 kilometers per year. After eight years with an electric car, I’m now at around 15,000 kilometers. That’s a 50% increase, which isn’t due to a new job in a farther location or any changes in my daily routine.

These additional 5,000 kilometers correspond to new outings and longer trips. While they haven’t replaced the journeys I used to take by train, bike, or on foot, and my needs haven’t changed significantly, the lower cost of traveling and the pleasure I get from driving and exploring make me more inclined to go out.

After discussing this with other electric car owners, both in my circle and on our WhatsApp group where the topic came up in recent days, I’ve realized that my situation isn’t isolated. Of course, this isn’t enough to draw universal conclusions, but it motivated me to check if there are already any studies or documented figures on the subject. It also reveals an interesting little paradox: while many skeptics continue to claim that electric cars are only suitable for short trips due to their “limited range,” reality shows that people often drive farther in them...

When hitting the road becomes more tempting

You might be familiar with that brief hesitation before heading out: a destination appeals to you, but it’s a bit far away, and you end up weighing the expected pleasure against the cost of traveling there. This doesn’t really happen when driving an electric vehicle, as you can just set off without much hesitation.

And this is all the more true since to this economic aspect comes the pleasure of driving an electric vehicle — I mean actually driving, not just operating it. This joy of driving stems from a series of small advantages, such as no longer needing to fill up with gasoline, discovering a different way to travel and thus seeing new landscapes, enjoying the silence and lack of vibrations, which leads to reduced fatigue. And of course, the cost per kilometer is two to five times lower than that of a conventional vehicle, depending on the circumstances (Donald, if you can hear us…). All these factors make it easier to make decisions that would have likely resulted in staying at home or choosing a closer destination before.

That’s where one factor comes into play. You may have heard of the rebound effect in terms of energy consumption optimization. Economists are well aware of this mechanism: when an improvement allows for less resource use for a given purpose, an increase in that use can offset some of the expected savings. This phenomenon has been observed mainly after public policies were implemented to reduce energy consumption in homes, but it seems applicable to electric cars as well, to a certain extent. It could lead to the question: how many extra kilometers are we willing to travel when each kilometer becomes cheaper?

The harms of the rebound effect

The topic was already included in the 2018 report by the European Environment Agency, which was also cited in a Reporterre article on the environmental impact of electric cars.

The agency reported that in Norway, according to the studies analyzed, 10 to 20% of electric vehicle trips replaced journeys by public transport or non-motorized modes. The reasons given included low operating costs, the appeal of novelty, the desire to justify the investment, and local advantages such as toll exemptions or free parking. It noted, however, the limitations of the available data and thus the difficulty in deriving reliable statistics from them.

A study by Colin Green and Vegard Østli, published in 2025 in Transportation Research Part A, has since added new insights. Based on surveys conducted in Norway from 2016 to 2019, the authors estimate that owning an electric vehicle leads to a 10 to 20 percent increase in demand for car trips, as people shift from using public transportation, bicycles, and walking. Note that this refers to the number of trips, not an equivalent increase in annual mileage.

From a more personal perspective, a study published in December 2025 by the Dutch agencies CPB and PBL found an increase in car mileage after switching to electric vehicles, particularly on weekends among urban households. To compare as similar profiles as possible, the researchers contrasted electric vehicle users with those who would eventually own a car. They did not observe a decline in walking, cycling, or public transportation use, although estimates for the latter remain inaccurate.

However, a 2020 German ZEW study found no significant overall rebound effect in the sample considered. Caution is therefore still warranted, as highlighted by a review of 62 studies on electromobility published in Transport Reviews, which emphasizes the lack of follow-up before and after purchase. The phenomenon is thus documented, but no one can seriously attribute the same behavior to all electric vehicle owners.

Diesel still leads... for long-distance driving

Regarding mileage figures, an analysis by the RAC Foundation published in July 2025, based on over 1.2 million British vehicle inspections, provides additional insight. For cars under three years old, it estimates the average annual mileage in 2024 to be around 16,180 kilometers for electric vehicles, compared to 12,210 for gasoline models and 17,270 for diesel vehicles.

Electric cars therefore have higher mileage than gasoline cars, but slightly lower than diesel cars. This shows that they can be true long-distance vehicles, though it does not provide conclusive proof that their owners increased their travel after purchase, as it is also possible that a high mileage already existed when the vehicle was chosen.

You should also consider what’s happening at the household level. If you drive an electric vehicle for some of the trips you used to make with your second gasoline car, the mileage counter on the first one increases even though you’re not driving any more overall. On the other hand, if your Tesla or Zoé makes you give up using a bike or walking for short trips, it’s slightly more problematic from an environmental perspective. I admit fault personally: my extra outings add kilometers that weren’t covered before.

But not at the expense of biking or walking.

And what about you? Since switching to an electric vehicle, is your mileage counter increasing, and do you know what these extra kilometers represent?