Environmental life cycle assessment of battery electric vehicles from the current and future energy mix perspective

We investigate the environmental impacts of on-board (based on alternating current, AC) and off-board (based on direct current, DC) charging concepts for electric vehicles using Life Cycle Assessment and considering a maximum charging power of 22 kW (AC) and 50 kW (DC). Our results show that the manufacturing of chargers provokes the highest contribution to environmental impacts of the production phase. Within the chargers, the filters could be identified as main polluters for all power levels. When comparing the results on a system level, the DC system causes less environmental impact than the AC system in all impact categories. In our diffusion scenarios for electric vehicles, annual emission reductions of up to 35 million kg CO2-eq. could be achieved when the DC system is used instead of the AC system. In addition to the environmental assessment, we examine economic effects. Here, we find annual savings of up to 8.5 million euros, when the DC system is used instead of the AC system.

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Comprehensive Evaluation of the Sustainable Development of Battery Electric Vehicles in China

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11205635 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (20) ◽

pp. 5635 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Wang ◽

Zhou ◽

Li ◽

Wei

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Electric Vehicles ◽

Social Life ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Rapid Development ◽

Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Battery Electric Vehicles ◽

The Social

Due to the rapid growth in the total number of vehicles in China, energy consumption and environmental pollution are serious problems. The development of electric vehicles (EVs) has become one of the important measures for solving these problems. As EVs are in a period of rapid development, sustainability research on them is conducive to the timely discovery of—and solution to—problems in the development process, but current research on the sustainability of EVs is still scarce. Based on the strategic development direction of EVs in China, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were chosen as the research object of this study. The theory and method of the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) were used to study the sustainability of BEVs. Specifically, the indicators of the life cycle assessment (LCA) were constructed, and the GaBi software was used to assess the environmental dimensions. The framework of life cycle costing (LCC) was used to assess the economic dimensions from the perspective of consumers. The indicators of the social life cycle assessment (SLCA) of stakeholders were constructed to assess the social dimension. Then, the method of the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was selected for multicriteria decision-making in order to integrate the three dimensions. A specific conclusion was drawn from a comparison of BEVs and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). The study found that the life cycle sustainability of ICEVs in China was better than that of BEVs. This result might be unexpected, but there were reasons for it. Through sensitivity analysis, it was concluded that the current power structure and energy consumption in the operation phase of BEVs had a higher environmental impact, and the high cost of batteries and the government subsidy policy had a higher impact on the cost of BEVs. Corresponding suggestions are put forward at the end of the article.

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Corrigendum to: Hawkins, T. R., B. Singh, G. Majeau‐Bettez, and A. H. Strømman. 2012. Comparative environmental life cycle assessment of conventional and electric vehicles. Journal of Industrial Ecology DOI: 10.1111/j.1530‐9290.2012.00532.x

Journal of Industrial Ecology ◽

10.1111/jiec.12011 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 158-160 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Electric Vehicles ◽

Industrial Ecology ◽

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment

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Environmental life cycle assessment of electric vehicles in Poland and the Czech Republic

Journal of Cleaner Production ◽

10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.08.145 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 202 ◽

pp. 476-487 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Dorota Burchart-Korol ◽

Simona Jursova ◽

Piotr Folęga ◽

Jerzy Korol ◽

Pavlina Pustejovska ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Czech Republic ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Electric Vehicles ◽

The Czech Republic ◽

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment

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Environmental Impact of Subsidy Concepts for Stimulating Car Sales in Germany

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su122310037 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (23) ◽

pp. 10037

Author(s):

Malte Scharf ◽

Ludger Heide ◽

Alexander Grahle ◽

Anne Magdalene Syré ◽

Dietmar Göhlich

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Co2 Emissions ◽

Electric Vehicles ◽

Balance Model ◽

Ecological Efficiency ◽

Battery Electric Vehicles ◽

Time Period ◽

Car Sales

In 2020, vehicle sales decreased dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, several voices have demanded a vehicle subsidy similar to the “environmental subsidy” in Germany in 2009. The ecological efficiency of vehicle subsidies is controversially discussed. This paper establishes a prognosis of the long-term environmental impacts of various car subsidy concepts. The CO2 emissions of the German car fleet impacted by the purchase subsidies are determined. A balance model of the CO2 emissions of the whole car life cycle is developed. The implementation of different subsidy scenarios directly affects the forecasted composition of the vehicle population and, therefore, the resulting life-cycle assessment. All scenarios compensate the additional emissions required by the production pull-in within the considered period and, hence, reduce the accumulated CO2 emissions until 2030. In the time period 2019–2030 and for a total number of 0.72 million subsidized vehicles—compensating the decrease due to the COVID-19 pandemic—savings of between 1.31 and 7.56 million t CO2 eq. are generated compared to the scenario without a subsidy. The exclusive funding of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is most effective, with an ecological break-even in 2025.

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The Effects of Lithium Sulfur Battery Ageing on Second-Life Possibilities and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment Studies

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12122440 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (12) ◽

pp. 2440 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Deidre Wolff ◽

Lluc Canals Casals ◽

Gabriela Benveniste ◽

Cristina Corchero ◽

Lluís Trilla

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Electric Vehicles ◽

Second Life ◽

Accelerated Ageing ◽

Li Ion Batteries ◽

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Endurance Tests ◽

Li Ion ◽

Life Options

The development of Li-ion batteries has enabled the re-entry of electric vehicles into the market. As car manufacturers strive to reach higher practical specific energies (550 Wh/kg) than what is achievable for Li-ion batteries, new alternatives for battery chemistry are being considered. Li-Sulfur batteries are of interest due to their ability to achieve the desired practical specific energy. The research presented in this paper focuses on the development of the Li-Sulfur technology for use in electric vehicles. The paper presents the methodology and results for endurance tests conducted on in-house manufactured Li-S cells under various accelerated ageing conditions. The Li-S cells were found to reach 80% state of health after 300–500 cycles. The results of these tests were used as the basis for discussing the second life options for Li-S batteries, as well as environmental Life Cycle Assessment results of a 50 kWh Li-S battery.

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