Cost and carbon footprint reduction of electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries through efficient thermal management

Abstract

Electric vehicles using lithium-ion batteries are currently the most promising technology to decarbonise the transport sector from fossil-fuels. It is thus imperative to reduce battery life cycle costs and greenhouse gas emissions to make this transition both economically and environmentally beneficial. In this study, it is shown that battery lifetime extension through effective thermal management significantly decreases the battery life cycle cost and carbon footprint. The battery lifetime simulated for each thermal management system is implemented in techno-economic and life cycle assessment models to calculate the life cycle costs and carbon footprint for the production and use phase of an electric vehicles. It is demonstrated that by optimising the battery thermal management system, the battery life cycle cost and carbon footprint can be reduced by 27% (from 0.22 $·km−1 for air cooling to 0.16 $·km−1 for surface cooling) and 25% (from 0.141 kg CO2 eq·km−1 to 0.104 kg CO2 eq·km−1), respectively. Moreover, the importance of cell design for cost and environmental impact are revealed and an improved cell design is proposed, which reduces the carbon footprint and life cycle cost by 35% to 0.0913 kg CO2 eq·km−1 and 40% to 0.133$·km−1, respectively, compared with conventional cell designs combined with air cooling systems.