[lazyjones]

> They belch smog that poisons people and reduces their IQ[0]

We'll have to stop equating cars with smog. Modern cars don't have exhaust pipes. So this can no longer serve as an argument against cars in general.

> Traffic makes cities miserable to live in.

Traffic is a function of the number of people who live in cities, it increases with population even without private car ownership. So you are essentially saying that people make cities miserable to live in (I agree).

[gsnedders]

> We'll have to stop equating cars with smog. Modern cars don't have exhaust pipes. So this can no longer serve as an argument against cars in general.

But:

> Data from the UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory indicate that particles from brake wear, tyre wear and road surface wear currently constitute 60% and 73% (by mass), respectively, of primary PM2.5 and PM10 emissions from road transport, and will become more dominant in the future.

In terms of local air quality, this will remain significant (tyre/road wear will get worse unless we manage to significantly reduce the weight of electric vehicles), and what little studies have been done tend to suggest this largely negates the gains from regenerative braking.

Essentially, we've _already_ substantially got rid of exhaust pipe smog such that other components create the majority.

[lazyjones]

> > Data from the UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory indicate that particles from brake wear, tyre wear and road surface wear currently constitute 60% and 73% (by mass), respectively, of primary PM2.5 and PM10 emissions from road transport, and will become more dominant in the future.

So how much does road transport contribute overall?

EV brake less than ICE.

[gsnedders]

Road transport is 11% of PM2.5 primary emissions and also 11% of PM10 primary emissions.

Domestic combustion (i.e., wood (primarily) and coal fires in domestic settings) is the top category of PM10 (44% of total) and second highest for PM2.5 (27%), after "industrial processes and use of solvents" (32%).

Notably, the resurgence of wood-burning fires in domestic settings has substantially increased emissions from that category over the past two decades (more than doubling it at a time when most other sources have been decreasing), and worse that's disproportionately in urban areas.