EVs probably produce more tire particulates but definitely make less brake dust, since most of the braking is regenerative. Not sure how that balances out in the grand scheme of things but it’s not a clear cut thing.
Breaking with regen makes EV use the physical breaks less often as compared to combustion engine vehicles. Using breaks also emits particulates although I am not sure how it compares to the volumes of particulate emissions by combustion engines and tires abrasion.
> have tire and brake dust (worse, due to the average weight)
this isn't really true. EV brakes barely get any use because of regenerative breaking, and EV tires tend to be stiffer which mostly evens out the tires.
Important point about the tires. Electric cars will, though, produce less brake dust (which is horrible), because they barely use their hydraulic braking systems.
Many electric cars use the motors for regenerative braking instead of the actual breaks. I also have no sources at hand, but I believe brake dust is greatly reduced with electric cars.
Tire wear, well, from what I can tell electric cars seem to chew through tires more quickly due to the weight of the vehicles and the high torque. No sources at hand for this, either…
EVs use their brakes less because of regenerative breaking. The particulate matter of tires is for the most part comparatively big an heavy, so a larger part of it stays near the ground and gets swept away by rain, and could be cleared in problematic locations by wetting the street (also bigger particles seem somewhat less problematic for health).
You're right that EVs don't fully solve the problem, but they are a giant step in the right direction.
Interesting - I'd have thought that the increase in tyre dust would be offset by less brake dust due to regenerative breaking.
Of course, having that much low-end torque can shred tyres much more easily. It would be cool to see whether the results hold for EVs taking off at the same (generally lower) acceleration as a gasoline vehicle
Due to their vastly greater mass and torque, EVs produce far more tire pollution than ICE vehicles do. In addition to that, tire dust is a far larger part of the overall pollution from operating a car than even the emissions from an ICE car. "Research done by UK-based independent testing company Emissions Analytics showed that used tyres produce 36 milligrams of particles each kilometre, which is nearly 2,000 times higher than the 0.02 mg/km average from exhausts."
It’s kind of shocking when you consider the volume of material removed from both tires and breaks over time * the number of cars.
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