Time magazine interviewed Chris Cherry, assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering, about his study which discovered that the use of electric vehicles may not be as clean as originally thought, particularly in the world’s most populated country, China. Cherry, and graduate student Shuguang Ji, found that in terms of air pollution, electric vehicles were more harmful to public health per kilometer traveled than gasoline-powered cars in China. In China, about 85% of the country’s electricity is powered by fossil fuels, of which 95% is coal. The study has received ample media coverage worldwide.