Autonomous vehicles: state of the technology and potential role as a climate solution

The document analyzes the dual potential of autonomous vehicles (AVs) to serve as a climate solution or an environmental liability. While AVs could reduce emissions through electrification, platooning, and shared transit, the proliferation of single-occupancy AVs risks increasing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and urban sprawl. The brief emphasizes that achieving climate goals requires integrating AVs into multimodal, electric urban systems that prioritize mass transit, biking, and walking over private vehicle use.

• Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are likely to be electric because batteries better support the high electricity needs of AV sensors and computers, and electric vehicles are more responsive for AI control.
• AVs could improve energy efficiency by reducing vehicle weight by up to 75% through the removal of unnecessary safety features and by utilizing 'platooning' to reduce air resistance.
• The widespread use of private electric AVs could potentially increase carbon emissions by up to 200% over their entire lifecycle due to increased vehicle miles traveled (VMT), larger vehicle designs, and the high energy demands of onboard computing.
• Integrating shared AVs into multimodal, electric urban transportation systems could reduce urban transportation pollution by 80% and decrease VMT by 25% by 2050.
• AV technology faces significant hurdles before broad deployment, including AI's difficulty reacting to unpredictable movements of pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as vulnerabilities to hacking and surveillance.
• The United States is currently testing AV shuttles in various cities and states, but these programs appear to lag behind similar developments in Europe and Asia.

APA

Nunno, R. (2021). Autonomous vehicles: state of the technology and potential role as a climate solution. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-autonomous-vehicles-state-of-the-technology-and-potential-role-as-a-climate-solution

Chicago

Nunno, Richard. Autonomous vehicles: state of the technology and potential role as a climate solution. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2021. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-autonomous-vehicles-state-of-the-technology-and-potential-role-as-a-climate-solution.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nunno |first1=Richard |title=Autonomous vehicles: state of the technology and potential role as a climate solution |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=24 June 2021 |url=https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-autonomous-vehicles-state-of-the-technology-and-potential-role-as-a-climate-solution |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nunno2021autonomous, author = {Nunno, Richard}, title = {{Autonomous vehicles: state of the technology and potential role as a climate solution}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/issue-brief-autonomous-vehicles-state-of-the-technology-and-potential-role-as-a-climate-solution}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }