Comparison of Climate Change Impact Between Power System of Electric Vehicles and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles

Abstract

The substitution of electric vehicle (EV) for conventional gasoline vehicles is a promising new way to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emission in China. This study compared the environmental impact on climate change between electric vehicle power system and internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) power system. A life cycle analysis model was built with the GaBi software to analyze the GHG emission with IPCC methodology. The life cycle of vehicle was divided into four phases including raw material production phase, auto parts production and assembly phase, transportation phase and use phase. Three scenarios of the electric power mix were carried out for the sensitivity analysis. Overall, the global warming potential (GWP) of ICEV was reduced by 69.8% compared with that of EV. However, when considering the whole vehicle use phase, EV provided 45% benefits of carbon reduction than ICEV. The results of sensitivity analysis showed that GHG emission decreased with improving of cleaner energy utilization. The results concluded that EV can reduce GHG emission compared to ICEV. Electricity consumption in the use stage, raw materials stage and production stage were the key processes for controlling GHG emission during EV management.