Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Running a car costs much more than people think — stalling the uptake of green travel

Car owners underestimate total vehicle costs. Giving consumers this information could encourage the switch to cleaner transport and reduce emissions.
  1. Mark A. Andor

    1. Mark A. Andor is a senior researcher in behavioural, experimental and environmental economics at the RWI — Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, Essen, Germany.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  2. Andreas Gerster

    1. Andreas Gerster is a postdoctoral researcher in economics at the University of Mannheim, Germany.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  3. Kenneth T. Gillingham

    1. Kenneth T. Gillingham is an associate professor of environmental and energy economics at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  4. Marco Horvath

    1. Marco Horvath is a postdoctoral researcher in environmental and resource economics at the RWI — Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, Essen, Germany.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

A woman checks her car between rows of red petrol pumps at a petrol station

A petrol station in Berlin. On average, drivers accurately judge fuel costs but severely underestimate all other expenditure. Credit: Thomas Peter/Reuters

Private cars are responsible for about 11% of the world’s total carbon dioxide emissions. That’s the greatest share in the transport sector, which accounts for 24% of emissions overall1. Petrol and diesel cars are associated with many other harmful effects, such as air pollution, congestion and accidents. It is clear that these cars must be largely removed from the roads to achieve sustainable mobility.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 580, 453-455 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-01118-w

Updates & Corrections

  • Clarification 09 May 2022: This Comment omitted small fixed costs (for example, for parking and vehicle inspections) in some of the calculations. These would reduce the published figures for car ownership, annual CO2 emissions and fuel-price increase by about 6% each and the increase in electric-vehicle uptake by 2.3%, but would not affect the overall conclusions of the analysis.

References

  1. International Energy Agency. Tracking Transport (IEA, 2019).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Oslo Kommune. The Car-free Livability Programme 2019 (Oslo Kommune, 2019); available at https://go.nature.com/2vc9ceb

    Google Scholar 

  3. International Energy Agency. Global EV Outlook 2019 (IEA, 2019).

    Google Scholar 

  4. European Environment Agency. Size of the Vehicle Fleet in Europe (EEA, 2019).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Clark, B., Chatterjee, K. & Melia, S. Transportation 43, 565–599 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. von Dauth, W. & Haller, P. [in German] Berufliches Pendeln zwischen Wohn-und Arbeitsort: Klarer Trend zu längeren Pendeldistanzen (No. 10/2018) (IAB-Kurzbericht, 2018).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Rezvani, Z., Jansson, J. & Bodin, J. Transp. Res. D 34, 122–136 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Krause, R. M., Carley, S. R., Lane, B. W. & Graham, J. D. Energy Policy 63, 433–440 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Dumortier, J. et al. Transp. Res. A 72, 71–86 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Achtnicht, M., Bühler, G. & Hermeling, C. Transp. Res. D 17, 262–269 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Lebeau, K., Van Mierlo, J., Lebeau, P., Mairesse, O. & Macharis, C. Transp. Res. D 17, 592–597 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Bento, A. M., Goulder, L. H., Jacobsen, M. R. & Von Haefen, R. H. Am. Econ. Rev. 99, 667–699 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Allcott, H. Am. Econ. J. Econ. Policy 5, 30–66 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. US Environmental Protection Agency. The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule for Model Year 2021–2026 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks (EPA, 2018).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Eurostat. Passenger Cars in the EU (Eurostat, 2019); available at https://go.nature.com/3bgchoy

    Google Scholar 

  16. Gallagher, K. S. & Muehlegger, E. J. Environ. Econ. Mgmt 61, 1–15 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Davis, L. W. & Metcalf, G. E. J. Assoc. Environ. Res. Econ. 3, 589–625 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Eichholtz, P., Kok, N. & Quigley, J. M. Am. Econ. Rev. 100, 2492–2509 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Newell, R. G. & Siikamäki, J. V. J. Assoc. Environ. Res. Econ. 1, 555–598 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Fearnley, N. et al. Transp. Res. Procedia 26, 62–80 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Supplementary Information

  1. Survey design and results

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links