Environmental sustainability analysis of Formula-E electric motor

Abstract

Demand for urban mobility continue to be on the rise and the changing landscape has profound repercussions on a varied range of issues as well as health, safety, water, transport and energy consumption. For this reason, to achieve sustainable urbanization, cities must generate better employment opportunities, expand the necessary infrastructure, ensure equal access to services, preserve the natural assets within the city and surrounding areas. In this context, even in motorsport (particularly in FIA) future trends are beginning to be oriented to sustainability issues and there is a growing interest in assessing the sustainability profile of racing vehicles. Environmental protection and eco-mobility represent the main challenge facing Formula-E by offering electric vehicles (EVs) designed to combine technology, innovation and sustainability, as well as to enable the transition towards low-carbon smart cities in the next future. Up today the sustainability issues in Formula-E have been treated exclusively at system level (i.e. logistics and management, travel, infrastructure and so on), but no studies exist at component level. Technological development related to racing performance field is also potentially boosting innovation, thus supporting continuous improvement of electrical powertrain in terms of efficiency, performance and optimal use of materials, such as rare earths for electric motors and active materials for batteries. The target of the paper is the development and implementation of a tailored methodological approach to assess the environmental impacts of the whole Life-Cycle (LC) of a Formula-E electric motor. The primary data collection is functional to enhance knowledge and inventory regarding the specific application. At the same time, the results provide useful indications to both improve product development under eco-design perspective and ensure technology transfer from racing high-performance cars to commercial vehicles.