Abstract:

Estimating emissions savings from alternative vehicular technologies is essential to streamlining urban freight transport policy. The authors estimate freight emissions in Chennai, India, using real-world emission factors obtained from onboard emission measurement systems and trip characteristics collected through an establishment survey. India recently enforced Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) emission standards, and both the central and multiple state governments have introduced battery electric vehicle (BEV) policies. The authors estimate the emission savings with BS-VI vehicles and BEVs for freight delivery to understand potential benefits. The BS-VI vehicles reduce tailpipe CO emissions by 20.3% and HC+NOx emissions by 74.5%. The GHG emission saving in CO2 equivalents with BEVs is 50.3%, which increases with a greener energy mix, improved transmission and distribution efficiency, cleaner battery production, and more lifetime vehicle kilometres. BS-VI adoption can deliver significant emission reduction until BEVs and charging infrastructure scale up.