[quietthrow]

Curious how this impact air pollution? My understanding is that the largest contributor of air pollution in cities is vehicles. And if predominantly the vehicles are cars and 2 wheelers and of that the higher percentage is 2 wheelers and if those are changing from petrol to electric then it should make a dent in pollution. As such air pollution could be a proxy of how e-2w benefit the country…

[another_twist]

The most talked about air pollution story in India is Delhi. If you live in India you probably know that the major contributor there is not vehicle smoke but smoke from burning stubbles from nearby agricultural fields. It doesnt happen in other countries with similar agricultural output since stubble finds more profitable avenues eg fodder for livestock. In India, the most profitable thing to do with stubble is to burn it and prepare quickly for the next sowing season.

This is to say that the EV transition wont put a major dent in Delhi's annual air pollution story.

For the other cities, it will have the same impact as anywhere else. Eg when Paris banned or limited vehicle traffic, the air quality improves substantially (BBC had a few before / after pics). Given that India is densely packed, an EV transition should improve air quality markedly atleast in major cities. It wont do anything for other sorts of pollution such as water pollution in the Yamuna but that will take time since these days even London can't keep shit out of the Thames.

[rob74]

Not only air pollution - if I think about the two-stroke engines that typically power cheap two-wheel vehicles, noise pollution also comes to mind...

[colechristensen]

2 stroke engines on new vehicles were banned in India 20 years ago and there have also been some restrictions on re-registering old 2 stroke vehicles as well

you're not wrong they just solved that part of the problem already

[carlosjobim]

Even the smallest motorcycles are four-stroke, unless we're talking about hobbyist stuff like dirt bikes.

[whateverboat]

Yes. This has long being the case. Cities with national monuments used to enforce "only eletrical taxis" rule near the monuments to protect them from pollution and this was successful.

[foobarian]

I imagine if the 2-wheelers have those awful 2-cycle engines this would be a slam dunk