An unnoticed side effect of electric vehicles

TL;DR

Electrification of transport may unintentionally increase peak-hour congestion due to altered travel behaviors, with EVs causing narrower departure windows and less congestion sensitivity, which can be mitigated by congestion tolls.

Contribution

This paper reveals an overlooked side effect of EV adoption, showing how it can lead to increased congestion and proposing tolls as a mitigation strategy.

Findings

EVs cause narrower peak-hour departure windows

EVs are less sensitive to congestion than traditional vehicles

Congestion tolls can reduce extra congestion and delay

Abstract

We illustrate that the electrification of our transport system might impose unnecessary extra congestion and delay for daily commuting passengers. By modelling travel behaviors of these passengers, it is found that more of them tend to depart at a narrower peak-hour time window. The occurrence of this shift is mainly caused by (1) the energy consumption of electric vehicles (EVs) is much lower than that of traditional vehicles and (2) the energy consumption of EVs is less sensitive to congestion than that of traditional vehicles. We further examine the role of congestion toll in minimizing the extra congestion and delay.