Abstract:

The health impacts of the rapid transition to the use of electric vehicles are largely unexplored. We completed a scoping review to assess the state of the evidence on use of battery electric and hybrid electric vehicles and health. The authors conducted a literature search of MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, CINAHL, Scopus, and Environmental Science Collection databases for articles published January 1990 to January 2024. The authors included articles if they presented observed or modeled data on the association between battery electric or hybrid electric cars, trucks, or buses and health-related outcomes. Out of 897 reviewed articles, 52 met the inclusion criteria. The majority of included articles examined transitions to the use of electric vehicles (n = 49, 94%), with fewer studies examining hybrid electric vehicles (n = 11, 21%) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (n = 8, 15%). The most common outcomes examined were premature death (n = 41, 79%) and monetized health outcomes such as medical expenditures (n = 33, 63%). This study identified only one observational study on the impact of electric vehicles on health; all other studies reported modeled data. Almost every study (n = 51, 98%) reported some evidence of a positive health impact of transitioning to electric or hybrid electric vehicles, although magnitudes of association varied. There was a paucity of information on the environmental justice implications of vehicle transitions. The results of the current literature on electric vehicles and health suggest an overall positive health impact of transitioning to electric vehicles. Additional observational studies would help expand our understanding of the real-world health effects of electric vehicles.