Greener Living

EV Fast Chargers Have a Surprising Health Downside

The fans that keep them cool appear to kick up particulate matter, but there are fixes.

A Tesla Inc. Supercharger station in San Francisco.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Hundreds of public fast chargers are popping up across the US to serve electric vehicle drivers seeking a cleaner alternative to gas-powered cars. But they come with a surprising risk: Charging stations create air pollution.

While EVs contribute vastly less to air pollution than combustion-powered vehicles, fast-charging stations are what a recent study called an “overlooked source of air pollution.”