National Context
According to the 2013 fuel economy guide the average 2013 car is 31 miles per gallon. Which is an all time high. But there are still cars that are really low in fuel economy
A Car emits 20 pounds of CO2 per gallon. There are over 1 billion cars in the World.(Huffington Post)
Those popular cars that everyone wants that are promoted in pop culture these days are the worst for the environment. To the left; the 2014 Rolls Royce Phantom $425,000 (11 Mpg), and to the right the 2014 Bugatti Vernon $2.5 million (8 Mpg). With the Vernon you're spending $18,000 more in 5 years on gas. The cost to drive 25 miles is over 10 dollars.
American drivers drive more then anyone.
Drivers log an average of 13,476 miles per year, or 37 miles a day. (University of Washington)
Lets say every American drove a Vernon. 13,476 Miles % 8 Mpg is 1,685 gallons of gas, that's 33,700 pounds of CO2 a year, for one car! There are over 300,000,000 Americans, so if everyone drove that Vernon they wanted that would be 10,110,000,000,000 pounds of CO2 a year by Americans alone if every American drove. for the 1 billion cars on earth that number would be 33,700,000,000,000 pounds of CO2. That is no where sustainable. But if everyone drove the 2013 average miles per gallon 31, the amount of CO2 a year would be 130,500,000,000.
This is the 2014 Tesla, an electric car and classified as a large car $69,000. The fuel economy on the Tesla is 97 MPGe. It cost one dollar to drive 25 miles. You Would save around $9,000 in fuel expenses. If Everyone drove a Tesla 41,700,000,000 pounds of CO2 would be released.