The role of electric vehicles in decarbonizing India's road passenger toward carbon neutrality and clean air: A state-level analysis

The 2070 carbon neutrality target of India requires deep decarbonization in all sectors. Introducing electric vehicles (EVs) in the road passenger sector may be a clean and alternative option for meeting this target. This study evaluates the penetration of EVs and transport energy demand toward carbon neutrality at the sub-national level in India. Using a bottom-up energy system optimization model, we estimate the impact of EV policies to promote battery and fuel cell technology on energy consumption and CO2 emissions. According to the carbon neutrality target established by the national policy, the study develops three scenarios: reference, low-carbon, and net-zero. The analytical framework also suggests regionally specific climate policies to increase the share of net-zero and low-carbon vehicles at the sub-national level. We found that CO2 emissions and air pollution reduction are difficult at the sub-national level by only using low-carbon transportation technologies. By contrast, a combined penetration of efficient technology can significantly reduce carbon emissions and air pollution. By 2070, modeling assessments illustrate that net-zero technology could reduce the total CO2 emissions from road passenger transport by more than 80% at the sub-national level in India.