How to Green Electric Vehicles

Analysis of key factors for Reducing Climate Impacts of Electric Vehicles

Authors: Julius Jöhrens, Hinrich Helms

In: Electric Vehicle Conference (IEVC), 2014 IEEE International. Florenz 2014 Using life-cycle assessment methodology, this paper quantifies the carbon footprint of Electric Vehicles (EV) as compared to conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEV). Thereby, the focus is put on important determinants of vehicle usage, such as lifetime mileage and driving pattern, and quantifies their influence on the relative environmental performance of EVs and ICEVs over the whole lifecycle today. This is contrasted with the influence of variability in the end-of-life and energy production stage of the vehicle, over which the user has only limited control. Based on the findings, some conclusions on policy measures are deducted. This paper focuses on important determinants of vehicle usage, such as lifetime mileage and driving pattern, and quantifies their influence on the relative environmental performance of EVs and ICEVs over the whole lifecycle today. This is contrasted with the influence of variability in the end-of-life and energy production stage of the vehicle, over which the user has only limited control. Potentials for future technological improvements of vehicles and potential developments in the electricity sector are beyond the scope of the paper. After a brief introduction to the LCA methodology and underlying datasets, a full comparison of lifecycle CO2 emissions of EVs and ICEVs is presented. Based on this, important sensitivities are analyzed. The paper concludes with recommendations derived from this analysis aiming at a sustainable deployment of electric vehicles.