Fascinating Research Says EV Ride Sharing Could Worsen Air Pollution And Traffic Woes – SlashGear

Notably, research is based on a simulation modeling tool called AgentX, which relies on TNC ridesourcing trip data from EVs in Chicago between 2019 and 2022. There are proven benefits of fleet electrification, and the research drew the same conclusion, but not without caveats. For example, the research notes that electrified TNC trips bring down the greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 40-45%, or on a financial scale, by up to $0.1 per trip. But at the same time, there are life cycle-related variables that can cause up to a 6-11% spike in air pollution.

The primary contributors to air pollution were narrowed down to particulate matter and oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, which are linked to fossil-reliant power plants that are supplying electrical energy to EV charging stations. The research in question focused on ride-sharing apps, which travel more frquently than an average car, electrified or not. 

For this particular research, the team assessed data from over a million Uber and Lyft trips across weekdays, busy weekends, and different seasons across the year. This is the first analysis of its kind that takes into account real-world travel data from electric vehicles, with a focus on life-cycle copses from EVs that draw power from a 40 kWh or 65 kWh battery pack.