[MeganM (OP)]

John has asked:

"As cars brake, they generated particulate air pollution. Could regenerative braking help with this?"

What do you think?

[syhprum]

Regular braking wastes energy so if this waste can be avoided that is less energy that the vehicle will consume but under normal driving conditions this does not amount to a great deal.
It has been suggested that the dust given of by conventual brakes might be harmful but there is little evidence for this as yet.
Regenerative braking shows the most gain when ones journeys are mostly on mountainous roads and I was most impressed when when I was driven up to a hilltop restaurant from Lake Lugarno in a taxi so equipped.

[wolfekeeper]

Brake dust apparently makes up 20% of pm2.5 pollution:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7864855/Metal-particles-vehicle-brake-dust-damage-immune-diesel-pollution.html

Certainly brakes on vehicles with regenerative braking tend to last many fold longer, so you would expect a lot less pollution to be released.

[chris]

Brake dust apparently makes up 20% of pm2.5 pollution:

Also relevant is our recent interview with Liza Selley showing the pro-inflammatory effects of brake dust exposure.

[syhprum]

Brake disks and calipers tend to rust if they do not get frequent use is it not possible inadequate performance of ABS at critical moments could lead to worse problems than the inhalation of dust ?

[UrsineWelles]

Normal brakes work using friction to slow the vehicle down and this friction makes dust particles which are released into the environment. Regenerative brakes that generate electricity that is stored in the vehicle battery will take some of the load of the friction brake pads and so should reduce the amount of brake dust released in braking.

[samlowe]

I'm sure that electric cars do reduce air pollution significantly. As an EV driver I can say that you hardly ever have to use the brake, as the cars are slowed down mostly using regenerative braking, which doesn't use pads.