Electric vehicle fast-charging stations are pollutant hot spots, according to a new UCLA study.
Electric vehicle fast-charging stations are pollutant hot spots, according to a new UCLA study. EV drivers taking a road trip for the long Fourth of July weekend might want to stand back while recharging their batteries: Scientists found the air around EV fast chargers had around twice as much fine particulate matter compared to general urban levels.
While that’s dangerous to breathe in, the good news is that it’s over a small area and relatively easy to avoid. The scientists who measured the air quality believe the chargers aren’t making the pollution, but that it's due to cooling fans inside fast-chargers’ power cabinets kicking up traffic dust deposited by visiting EVs. Fixing it might just be a matter of making a few engineering tweaks to the power cabinets, said the senior author of the study, UCLA environmental health professor Yifang Zhu.
Read more at University of California – Los Angeles
Photo Credit: andreas160578 via Pixabay
