A new study from North Carolina State University indicates
that even a sharp increase in the use of electric drive passenger vehicles
(EDVs) by 2050 would not significantly reduce emissions of high-profile air
pollutants carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides.
“EDVs” is a catch-all term that includes hybrid, plug-in
hybrid and battery electric vehicles.
“We wanted to see how important EDVs may be over the next 40
years in terms of their ability to reduce emissions,” says Dr. Joseph
DeCarolis, an assistant professor of civil, construction and environmental
engineering at NC State and senior author of a paper on the new model. “We
found that increasing the use of EDVs is not an effective way to produce large
emissions reductions.”