Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

This article analyzes and reports total CO2 emissions of a typical electric vehicle (EV) during the whole life cycle. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was based on China’s environmental load data. The life cycle includes the raw material acquisition, vehicle production, vehicle use, and recycling stages. The results show that CO2 emissions of the electric vehicle (EV) during raw material acquisition and vehicle production stages are higher than those for the same stages of a traditional internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV). This is primarily caused by the fact that battery production produces a large amount of emissions. As expected, emissions are significantly reduced during vehicle use and recycling stages. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of this electric vehicle is 212.7 gCO2e/km, which is 23.8% lower than the reference value (279 gCO2e/km for the ICEV). According to the requirements of the 2018 GHG Emission Calculation Method for New Energy Vehicles in China, this car can be classified as a “Low-Carbon” vehicle. The largest contributor to the life cycle GHG emissions corresponds to the use phase, accounting for 68.4% (40% lower than the reference value); the raw material acquisition phase contribution is 35% (2.8 times the reference value); vehicle and power battery production GHG emissions accounted for about 2.9% (1.5 times higher than the reference value); Vehicle recycling can be modified to reduce carbon emissions (-6.3%). High power battery energy density and lower power consumption are the main reasons this car’s emissions are much lower than the reference (ICEV) value.