Vehicle electrification has attracted strong policy support in California due to its air quality and climate benefits from adoption. However, it is unclear whether these benefits are equitable across the state’s sensitive populations and socioeconomic groups and whether disadvantaged communities are able to take advantage of the emission savings and associated health benefits of electric vehicle (EV) adoption. In this study, we analyze the statewide health impacts from the reduction of on-road emissions reduction (from reducing gasoline powered cars) and the increase in power plant emissions (from EV charging) across disadvantaged communities (DACs) detected by using the environmental justice screening tool CalEnviroScreen. The results indicate that EV adoption will reduce statewide primary PM2.5 emissions by 24.02-25.05 kilotonnes and CO2 emissions by 1,223-1,255 megatonnes through 2045, and the overall monetized emission-related health benefits from decreased mortality and morbidity can be 2.52-2.76 billion dollars overall. However, the average per capita per year air pollution benefit in DACs is about $1.60 lower than that in the least 10% vulnerable communities in 2020, and this disparity expands to over $31 per capita per year in 2045, indicating that the benefits overlook some of the state's most vulnerable population, and suggesting clear distributive and equity impacts of existing EV support policies. This study contributes to our growing understanding of environmental justice rising from vehicle electrification, underscoring the need for policy frameworks that create a more equitable transportation system.

View the NCST Project Webpage

Transportation electrification is playing an increasingly essential role in mitigating climate change, especially coupled with a sustainable energy system. However, proper placement of charging infrastructures and management of charging activities is the key to ensuring the environmental benefits from the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. Existing literature on the emissions implications of vehicle electrification is often limited by neglecting the spatial and temporal diversity of the electricity grid, or by failing to respect individual heterogeneity. This dissertation research demonstrates the importance of assessing BEV charging infrastructure in an integrated perspective, focusing on key interactions between transportation, energy, and economy across individual patterns of travel behavior, dwelling constraints, pricing elasticity of consumers with regards to charging, and the temporal and spatial diversity in price and GHG intensity of electricity through three studies. Results from the charging infrastructure optimization study show that higher non-home charging opportunity informed by the empirical travel and dwelling patterns offers more potentials for a shared public charging system in San Diego, resulting in 14% - 30% lower in total system cost and 21% - 25% lower in emissions. This indicates that the heterogeneity in spatial and temporal travel and dwelling patterns substantially affect the design of the charging infrastructure system, and substantially change the energy, economic and environmental impacts of the system. The charging price strategies study considers the price elasticity of charging demand while investigating how different charging price strategies can affect the spatial and temporal distribution of charging activities and their energy, environmental and economic impacts. The results show that the ability of changing charging behavior to obtain environmental benefits depends on charging price strategies largely and the charging load profile is the result of various determinants including the dynamic electricity price, travel, and dwelling constraints, carbon price clustering effect, as well as exclusive home and shared non-home charging patterns. Lastly, results from the shared autonomous electric vehicle study indicate that SAEVs with exogenous charging would reduce GHG emissions by at least 75% compared to the internal combustion vehicles fleet in 2030, and the advantage expands to 97% if charging activities can interact with the grid when smart charging is available. The emission benefits of SAEVs are mainly dominated by vehicle electrification and grid development.

This study delves into the energy and emissions impacts of Shared Autonomous and Electric Vehicles (SAEVs) on disadvantaged communities in California. It explores the intersection of evolving transportation technologies—electric, autonomous, and shared mobility—and their implications for equity, energy consumption, and emissions. Through high-resolution spatial and temporalanalyses, this research evaluates the distribution of benefits and costs of SAEVs across diverse populations, incorporatingenvironmental justice principles. Our quantitative findings reveal that electrification of the vehicle fleet leads to a 63% to 71% decrease in CO2 emissions even with the current grid mix, and up to 84%-87% under a decarbonized grid with regular charging. The introduction of smart charging further enhances these benefits, resulting in a 93.5% - 95% reduction in CO2 emissions. However, the distribution of these air quality benefits is uneven, with disadvantaged communities experiencing approximately 15% less benefits compared to more advantaged areas. The study emphasizes the critical role of vehicle electrification and grid decarbonization in emissions reduction, and highlights the need for policies ensuring equitable distribution of SAEV benefits to promote sustainable and inclusive mobility.

View the NCST Project Webpage