Journal Article: Electric Vehicle Fleet Penetration Helps Address Inequalities in Air Quality and Improves Environmental Justice

Accelerating the entry of electric vehicles (EVs) into the on-road fleet could improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Despite decades of progress to improve regional air quality, disadvantaged communities near heavily traveled roads and truck routes remain disproportionately impacted by air pollution. Fleet electrification eliminates exhaust emissions, thus offering an opportunity to simultaneously address climate change, regional air quality, and environmental justice in near-road settings.
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Sonoma Technology worked with EPRI to assess and illustrate how accelerating the use of EVs could help close the gap in air quality differences between EJ communities and non-EJ locations. The project analyzed the community air quality benefits of alternative EV penetration scenarios for calendar year 2040 and assessed electrification of light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicle fleets. Results showed that as the use of EVs increases, air quality differences decrease between EJ and non-EJ areas.
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Study findings were published in the journal, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00799-1" target="_blank">Communications Earth & Environment</a href>. The article abstract is below.
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Accelerated penetration of on-road electric vehicles offers regional and community-scale air quality benefits; however, such benefits have not been previously quantified regarding environmental justice communities near major roads. This study evaluated six 2040 electric vehicle scenarios and quantified concentration reductions of nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter (diameter less than 2.5 µm) for Southern California environmental justice communities near Interstate 710. Findings showed that aggressive electric vehicle penetration (85% electric vehicle share) reduced nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter concentrations more in communities with more people of color (1.9 ppb and 1.1 μg m−3) than in communities with more White residents (1.6 ppb and 0.94 μg m−3). Aggressive electric vehicle penetration reduced pollution exposure disparity by 30% for nitrogen dioxide and 14% for fine particulate matter. Disparity reductions were also found based on educational attainment. Results suggest policies that encourage accelerated electric vehicle penetration will address inequalities in air pollution and help achieve environmental justice.