Study finds electric vehicles may worsen air quality in parts of Los Angeles, despite benefits in other cities.

A study by the journal Science of the Total Environment suggests that large numbers of electric vehicles could worsen air quality in parts of Los Angeles, despite this being seen as the opposite effect in other large U.S. cities. The study looked at how the country’s most populous cities, New York, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles could adopt large quantities of EVs by 2035, which would improve air quality overall in all four cities. However, some areas could see an increase in fine particulate matter, also called PM2.5, due to their unique airflow and geography, this could increase these types of particulates. The results were announced in a press release from the University of Houston.