Every year, thousands of Brazilian families experience preventable health problems caused by air pollution—children suffering asthma attacks, or parents losing their lives to respiratory diseases. A major but often invisible contributor is pollution from vehicles on Brazil’s roads.
Road transport emissions are linked to thousands of avoidable illnesses and premature deaths annually, with children and older adults hit the hardest. Asthma cases caused by road pollution are especially concentrated in children under five. Beyond health, these conditions also create significant economic losses through medical costs and missed school or workdays.
Yet this challenge presents a major opportunity for Brazil. By adopting strong policies to speed up the transition to electric vehicles, the country can save lives, reduce social and economic burdens, and make meaningful progress toward its climate goals. The real question is not whether Brazil can afford this transition—but whether it can afford to delay it.
The Impact of Accelerating Electric Vehicle Adoption
A recent study examined the potential benefits if Brazil substantially increases the use of electric light- and heavy-duty vehicles, as well as electric two- and three-wheelers. The scenario assumes EVs reach 80%–100% of new vehicle sales by 2040, depending on the category. With Brazil’s power sector already powered by nearly 90% renewables, battery electric vehicles have extremely low upstream emissions—giving them huge potential for climate and air quality gains.
The projected benefits are remarkable. With faster EV adoption, Brazil could avoid:
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6,410 new childhood asthma cases
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4,070 premature deaths
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68,300 years of life lost
In addition, the transition would prevent 590 million tonnes of CO₂ from tailpipes, and 630 million tonnes when considering the full fuel and electricity life cycle.
These improvements would translate into major economic value. Using a “value of statistical life” estimate of 3.6–4.7 million BRL ($0.7–$0.9 million in 2025 USD), the reduced mortality alone could represent 8–11 billion BRL ($1.6–$2.0 billion). For comparison, this equals around 3%–4% of Brazil’s 2021 public healthcare expenditure.
The economic impact extends beyond healthcare. Another ICCT analysis found that shifting to EVs could create over 1 million jobs in Brazil by 2050, through growth in manufacturing, construction, and service sectors.
Why Timing Matters
The speed of health improvements depends on how quickly EVs replace internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. As more zero-emission vehicles hit the roads, air pollution drops sharply. Under an accelerated transition scenario, EVs could make up half of Brazil’s fleet by 2040—cutting on-road pollution almost in half.
Cities with high population density, such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, would benefit the most and could set a national example for clean transportation.
Only Full EVs Eliminate Tailpipe Pollution
While flex-fuel cars dominate Brazil’s fleet, they do not provide significant air quality improvements over gasoline vehicles. Hybrids offer some reductions but still produce pollutants. In contrast, battery and fuel-cell electric vehicles eliminate tailpipe emissions entirely—removing harmful pollutants from streets, neighborhoods, and workplaces.
Battery electric vehicles also produce far lower life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions compared to flex-fuel or hybrid cars. For example, they generate only about one-third of the total life-cycle emissions of gasoline–ethanol flex-fuel vehicles.
However, weak EV policies have led automakers to continue prioritizing flex-fuel and ICE vehicles in Brazil—unlike markets such as China and the UK, where firm policies have accelerated EV adoption.
A Critical Moment for Brazil
The evidence is clear: speeding up EV adoption could deliver billions in health and climate savings by 2040. These numbers represent real people—children breathing cleaner air, families protected from loss, and communities living healthier lives.
EV adoption offers a win-win: immediate air quality improvements and major reductions in greenhouse gases. With its clean electricity grid and expanding auto industry, Brazil has the foundation to lead the global EV transition.
Electrification has already begun, but its pace remains uncertain. As global EV supply grows and costs fall, Brazil’s policy decisions will determine whether the country captures the full benefits—or continues to bear the heavy cost of delay.