In New York City, congestion pricing leads to marked drop in pollution

> Particulates issued from tailpipes can aggravate asthma and heart disease and increase the risk of lung cancer and heart attack. Globally, they are a leading risk factor for premature death.

Minor nitpick, but tailpipes aren't the primary source of emissions. The study is about PM2.5[0]. which will chiefly be tires and brake pads. Modern gasoline engines are relatively clean, outside of CO2, though diesel engines spit out a bunch of bad stuff.

[0] https://www.nature.com/articles/s44407-025-00037-2

Is that true for slower moving vehicles? I can't imagine there's a lot of brake dust generated by stopping & starting in the 0-10 mph range.

Tires and brakes. With EV's this gets relatively worse because they are heavier.

Minus brakes on EVs. They usually do not use their break pads.

ehhh, they certainly can and do... but I think there's a case to be made that this can be lower when managed appropriately

My only experience is BMW EV, but my i4 aggressively prioritizes regeneration over using the brakes. It even has an energy meter that shows negative/positive energy flow. The positive flow is blue until the actual brakes engage where it changes to black. And this is in two pedal mode, one pedal driving is even more aggressive about regen.

I would not doubt I use my breaks 1/20th of the amount that our X5 or Silverado use theirs.

It varies by model, I know some lower end EVs from GM still use the breaks quite often depending on the driving mode.