Further development and in-depth analyses of the life cycle assessment of electric vehicles
Overview
Background & policy context:
The transport sector plays a major role in the current debate on climate and energy policy. At present, the dependency of road transport on fossil energy carriers exceeds 90%, and road transport is responsible for about 20% of the total CO² emission in Germany. Electric vehicles distinctly expand the overall spectrum of energy carriers utilized in road transport and allow the direct utilization of renewable energies in transport. Moreover, electric vehicles are free of exhaust emissions, and the associated noise pollution is distinctly lower in comparison with internal combustion engines, particularly for passenger cars at low speed up to 25 km/h. Thus, electric vehicles may make a substantial contribution to improvements in air quality and general quality of live in metropolitan areas. The German Federal Government is committed to the introduction of 1 million electric vehicles to German roads by the year 2020. In the process, a number of vehicles concepts are developed: Dedicated battery-electric vehicles as well as mixed approaches with conventional combustion engines in combination with electric propulsion. The latter can potentially replace conventional vehicles without any major changes in user behaviour.
Objectives:
For a conclusive assessment of electric vehicles, an analysis of the entire life cycle is required with a particular focus on resource input. Thus, in addition to an environmental analysis of emissions, a separate resource analysis is performed.
Methodology:
The assessment of environmental impacts associated with the different vehicle concepts requires analyses that model the entire life cycle of the vehicle. Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) as an instrument of environmental analysis have been well-established since the 1980s. The key strength of an LCA lies in the fact that all stages of the product life cycle are taken into consideration. If the analysis focused on a single process stage or a subsection of the product life cycle (e.g. only the use phase of the vehicle), grave misinterpretations of environmental impacts, e.g. from the supply of mobility as a service, may be the consequence.
The present study chose a compact class passenger car with a number of electric drive concepts as a proxy representing the diversity of vehicle models currently available on the market. Over the course of the project, methodology, input data and results were discussed and aligned in two project workshops and several bilateral consultations with experts in the field.
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