Air quality, health, and equity impacts of vehicle electrification in India

Abstract

Ambient air pollution in India accounts for 870,000 deaths per year, including 43,000 from road transportation. Vehicle electrification could posit a sustainable solution. However, 3/4th of India's electric grid is powered by coal, emitting large amounts of PM2.5, SO2, and NOx. This leads to uncertainty regarding the health benefits and distributional consequences from vehicle electrification. Our results show that if electric vehicles made up 30% of vehicle kilometers traveled, there would be 1,000-2,000 additional deaths each year under present day conditions. Higher increases in pollution exposure are seen in scheduled castes/tribes, poor, and rural populations particularly in high coal production states. Switching to net zero-emitting electricity generation for charging would reduce air pollution attributable deaths by 6,000-7,000 annually and PM2.5 exposure across all groups of population.