How electric vehicles can power infrastructure change
College of Engineering researchers found that increased electric vehicle adoption can create greener transportation infrastructure overall by triggering new investments in sustainable energy generation and storage.
Most people know that electric vehicles (EVs) are at the forefront of sustainable technology in their own right. But did you know they can also have positive ripple effects on other aspects of vehicle infrastructure?
“Increased EV adoption can trigger investment in new power generators—especially wind, solar, and natural gas—as well as, energy storage (batteries),” said Jeremy Michalek, a professor of engineering and public policy, professor of mechanical engineering, and director of the Vehicle Electrification Group at Carnegie Mellon University.
College of Engineering faculty members Michalek, Corey Harper, and Destenie Nock worked with Lily Hanig (EPP Ph.D. ’24) to model the effect of plug-in EV adoption on U.S. power system generator capacity investment, operations, and emissions through 2050 in a study recently published in PNAS.
“We wanted to investigate EV adoption because as we add more demand for electricity we may affect power plant retirement and construction,” said Nock, an assistant professor of engineering and public policy and civil and environmental engineering. In each scenario, the researchers found that increased EV adoption would trigger new investment in wind, solar, storage, and natural gas capacity.
“When we account for this new infrastructure investment, the effect of EV charging on power system emissions is lower than we would otherwise expect,” said Michalek. “Basically, EVs can help make the power system more green.”
When we account for new infrastructure investment, the effect of EV charging on power system emissions is lower than we would otherwise expect. Basically, EVs can help make the power system more green.
Jeremy Michalek, Professor, Engineering and Public Policy, Mechanical Engineering
In the study, the engineers focused on the question, “How do changes in EV adoption trajectories affect power grid capacity expansion, generation, and emissions?” They estimated power systems outcomes under five different potential EV adoption trajectory scenarios following policies like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas emissions standards, as well as, scenarios and targets set by the White House, the US Energy Information Administration, and the International Energy Agency.
For each scenario, they estimated the power system infrastructure investment, generation mix, and greenhouse emissions that would result over time, with no policy adherence serving as the pessimistic scenario and growth expected under the IRA serving as a reference scenario. The results varied by region and by scenario, with different parts of the country adopting more wind or solar and others investing in more natural gas.
“By 2040 and 2050, higher EV adoption could result in increased generation from solar in the Southeast and Southwest, wind in the Central, and natural gas in the mid-Atlantic regions of the United States,” said Harper, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering.
This induced power system infrastructure investment has implications for emissions, Michalek explained.
“In 2026, the power system emissions induced by charging more EVs is similar, on average, to the burning gasoline,” he said. “But by 2032 and beyond, as new plants are built in response to the new load, the power system emissions from charging EVs drops fivefold to levels well below that of gasoline.”