If we commit to EV how much more solar power would we get in cities?

Question

I.e. if we got rid of internal combustion engines how much cleaner would city air be (outside of personal health benefits) and would that provide an increase in solar production through more effective irradiance and less soilage?

eesmith · Accepted Answer

It's a complicated question, but the answer is "not much". Most cities don't have a smog issue, and for those that do, it isn't always smoggy, and when it is, vehicle emissions are less than 1/2 the problem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution_in_Delhi says, "India's Ministry of Earth Sciences published a research paper in October 2018 attributing almost 41% to vehicular emissions, 21.5% to dust and 18% to industries" and "37 percent of sunlight".
https://energyandcleanair.org/why-does-the-smog-strike-beiji... says "The two largest sources of air pollution in the Beijing region are steel industry and the heating of buildings" noting that the city has 'air pollution episodes' even with restrictions keeping cars off the road.
BTW, vehicle brake pads are another source of particulate emission. "Brake pad emissions make up a fifth of PM2.5 air pollution at roadsides" in London - https://airqualitynews.com/2020/01/09/air-pollution-from-bra... .