Life Cycle Analysis of Electric Vehicles

Abstract

Due to growing environmental issues, including climate change, urban pollution, and the anticipated scarcity of fossil fuels, societal and political interest in electric mobility has surged recently. When switching from internal combustion engines to alternative drivetrain technologies, such as electric vehicles (EV), there is expected to be a decrease in the usage of fossil fuels and environmental effects. Several nations have already started initiatives to introduce electric vehicles to the market or set goals for the future share of these vehicles. For instance, the European Union wants to reduce the number of vehicles with internal combustion engines in half by 2030 and phase them out entirely in cities by 2050 and by 2030. China and Norway acting as the main drivers. The current chapter examines the LCA studies on electric vehicles and their corresponding batteries that have been published in the previous ten years. Also, the suitability of the employed assessment techniques for addressing the criticality of resources is confirmed.