Comparative life cycle assessment of conventional, electric and hybrid passenger vehicles in Spain

Abstract

Electric and hybrid vehicles are being promoted in European countries to significantly improve air quality in urban areas and reduce Greenhouse Gases emissions . This study evaluates and compares the potential environmental effects of electric, hybrid, petrol, and diesel cars in Spain using a cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment approach. It aims to accomplish a precise analysis of a wide range of environmental impact categories. To this end, we provide a transparent inventory of components and vehicle manufacture, their distribution, use phase, and end-of-life, together with a detailed description of the Spanish 2014–2018 electricity generation mix. Furthermore, based on European projections, the work evaluates future energy scenarios, 2030 and 2050, to assess the impact of increasing renewable electricity in electric cars. In the current Spanish scenario and assuming a lifetime of 150,000 km, BEV life cycle CO 2 -eq emissions are 48% lower than petrol ICEV. Future scenarios of the Spanish electricity grid confirm that a massive introduction of renewable energies would lead to a 19.26% and 27.41% decrease of CO 2 -eq emissions in 2030 and 2050, respectively. Nevertheless, current and future energy scenario predictions show that electric vehicles will produce an increase in fine particulate matter formation (26%), human carcinogenic (20%) and non-carcinogenic toxicity (61%), terrestrial ecotoxicity (31%), freshwater ecotoxicity (39%), and marine ecotoxicity (41%) relative to petrol vehicles. Transfer of environmental burdens from the use phase to the raw materials extraction and manufacturing phases entails a delocalisation of the impacts, which constitutes a new challenge at environmental, social, and legal levels. This study is the first comparative analysis of the environmental impacts of passenger vehicles in Spain from a cradle-to-grave perspective, considering different impact categories and time scopes. • Future scenarios for Spain enhance electric vehicle carbon footprint reduction. • Electric vehicles show the highest toxicity on ecosystems and human health. • Electric and hybrid vehicles transfer most of their impacts to the manufacture. • Future scenarios rise the geographical delocalisation of environmental impacts. • Data inventories are proposed for the current and future Spanish electricity mixes.