Life cycle assessment for conventional vehicle, electric vehicle and plug-in electric vehicle for brazilian conditions

With increasing interest in reducing fossil fuel emissions, more and more development is focused on electric mobility. For electric vehicles, the main challenge is the mass of the batteries, which significantly increase the mass of the vehicles and limits their range. One possible concept to solve this is incorporating structural batteries; a structural material that both stores electrical energy and carries mechanical load. The concept envisions constructing the body of an electric vehicle with this material and thus reducing the need for further energy storage. This research is investigating a future structural battery that is incorporated in the roof of an electric vehicle. The structural battery is replacing the original steel roof of the vehicle, and part of the original traction battery. The environmental implications of this structural battery roof are investigated with a life cycle assessment, which shows that a structural battery roof can avoid climate impacts in substantive quantities. The main emissions for the structural battery stem from its production and efforts should be focused there to further improve the environmental benefits of the structural battery. Toxicity is investigated with a novel chemical risk assessment from a life cycle perspective, which shows that two chemicals should be targeted for substitution.

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Utilization effects on battery electric vehicle life-cycle assessment: A case-driven analysis of two commercial mobility applications

Transportation Research Part D Transport and Environment ◽

10.1016/j.trd.2019.08.005 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 75 ◽

pp. 87-105 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michael Held ◽

Maximilian Schücking

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Electric Vehicle ◽

Battery Electric Vehicle

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A comparative life cycle assessment on lithium-ion battery: Case study on electric vehicle battery in China considering battery evolution

Waste Management & Research ◽

10.1177/0734242x20966637 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 0734242X2096663 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shuoyao Wang ◽

Jeongsoo Yu

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Lithium Ion Battery ◽

Electric Vehicle ◽

Lithium Ion ◽

Collection Rate ◽

Recycling Industry ◽

Battery Recycling ◽

The Future

China has become the largest electric vehicle (EV) market in the world since 2015. Consequently, the lithium-ion battery (LiB) market in China is also expanding fast. LiB makers are continually introducing new types of LiBs into the market to improve LiBs’ performance. However, there will be a considerable amount of waste LiBs generated in China. These waste LiBs should be appropriately recycled to avoid resources’ waste or environmental pollution problems. Yet, because LiBs’ type keeps changing, the environmental impact and profitability of the waste LiB recycling industry in China become uncertain. In this research, we reveal the detailed life cycle process of EVs’ LiBs in China first. Then, the environmental impact of each type of LiB is speculated using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. Moreover, we clarify how LiBs’ evolution will affect the economic effect of the waste battery recycling industry in China. We perform a sensitivity analysis focusing on waste LiBs’ collection rate. We found that along with LiBs’ evolution, their environmental impact is decreasing. Furthermore, if waste LiBs could be appropriately recycled, their life cycle environmental impact would be further dramatically decreased. On the other hand, the profitability of the waste battery recycling industry in China would decrease in the future. Moreover, it is essential to improve waste LiBs’ collection rate to establish an efficient waste LiB industry. Such a trend should be noticed by the Chinese government and waste LiB recycling operators to establish a sustainable waste LiB recycling industry in the future.

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Life Cycle Assessment of a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) Electric Vehicle Battery in Second Life Application Scenarios

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11092527 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 2527 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Christos Ioakimidis ◽

Alberto Murillo-Marrodán ◽

Ali Bagheri ◽

Dimitrios Thomas ◽

Konstantinos Genikomsakis

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Electric Vehicle ◽

Second Life ◽

Lithium Iron Phosphate ◽

Iron Phosphate ◽

Time Frame ◽

Environmental Benefit ◽

Storage Unit ◽

Energy Storage Unit

This paper presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) study that examines a number of scenarios that complement the primary use phase of electric vehicle (EV) batteries with a secondary application in smart buildings in Spain, as a means of extending their useful life under less demanding conditions, when they no longer meet the requirements for automotive purposes. Specifically, it considers a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery to analyze four second life application scenarios by combining the following cases: (i) either reuse of the EV battery or manufacturing of a new battery as energy storage unit in the building; and (ii) either use of the Spanish electricity mix or energy supply by solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Based on the Eco-indicator 99 and IPCC 2007 GWP 20a methods, the evaluation of the scenario results shows that there is significant environmental benefit from reusing the existing EV battery in the secondary application instead of manufacturing a new battery to be used for the same purpose and time frame. Moreover, the findings of this work exemplify the dependence of the results on the energy source in the smart building application, and thus highlight the importance of PVs on the reduction of the environmental impact.

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