Accelerating electric vehicle uptake favours greenhouse gas over air pollutant emissions.

• Fleet turnover model created for the UK up to 2050. • Vehicle and power station air pollutant and CO 2eq emissions calculated. • BEVs reduce CO 2eq and NO x emissions but leave non-exhaust PM 2.5 unmitigated. • BEV uptake rates impact cumulative CO 2eq emissions, but not air pollutants. • Reducing vehicle kilometres can mitigate non-exhaust PM 2.5 emissions. The rapid uptake of new vehicle technologies will change the environmental impact of road transport. The emissions produced in power plants supplying electric vehicles (EVs) and vehicular non-exhaust PM 2.5 emissions leaves the benefits of EVs unclear. We develop a fleet turnover model to assess how different vehicle technologies, the rate of technological change, and changing transport demand impact vehicle and power station CO 2eq and air pollutant emissions. By 2050, the transition to EVs reduces yearly CO 2eq emissions by 98% and cumulative CO 2eq emissions by over 50%; accelerating or delaying EV uptake by 5 years changes these results by 1% and 17%, respectively. By 2050, EVs reduce annual NO x emissions by 97%, but have little impact on PM 2.5 due to vehicular non-exhaust emissions. Accelerating or delaying EV uptake had little impact on air pollution emissions. Reducing vehicle kilometres has the potential to reduce non-exhaust PM 2.5 emissions by 20% in the long-term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]