Health and Climate Impacts of Electric Vehicle Deployment – A Case Study of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area

Abstract

The transportation sector is a big source of greenhouse gas and air pollution emissions. Though studies generally agree that introducing electric vehicles (with no exhaust emissions) brings environmental benefits, an accurate assessment requires detailed analysis of emissions from electricity generation, vehicle travel patterns, and air pollutants transport. By operationalizing the concept of marginal emission factors and simulating charging patterns using person-level travel activity data, this thesis first developed a framework to evaluate the emission reduction potential of EV deployment in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). Then, to assess the health and economic impacts, an integrated model was built by combining a high-resolution chemical transportation model with an emission inventory that included traffic and electricity generation details. According to the results, EV deployment in the GTHA can achieve substantial health and climate benefits, and there is a need for policies to promote EV uptake and manage rising electricity demand.