Implication viability assessment of electric vehicles for different regions: An approach of life cycle assessment considering exergy analysis and battery degradation

Abstract

The rapid urbanization witnessed in the last few decades has contributed to the increasing demand for vehicles worldwide. An overwhelming majority of these vehicles run on fossil fuels, leading to environmental degradation. Emissions from the transport sector are a major contributor to local as well as global air pollution and deterioration in air quality. Countries such as the United States of America, China, India, Indonesia, etc., having the largest number of registered vehicles, are also responsible for a higher proportion of vehicular emissions. As new technologies emerge, electric vehicles (EV) are being envisioned as a replacement to the conventional internal combustion engine (ICEV) vehicle fleet, thus directly reducing tailpipe emissions. However, their indirect emissions are dependent on the energy grid of that particular nation. This study aims to assess the viability of implementing electric vehicles in the nations with high vehicle population. The top ten countries with the highest number of vehicles were identified, along with their power grid characteristics. A detailed review of emission factors of various power generation sources was carried out considering exergy analysis. Furthermore, battery degradation models were used to estimate the lifetime emissions from the battery of electric vehicles. The viability index calculations include well to wheel (WTW) emissions for power generation sources, in case of EVs, and for conventional vehicle fuels. The study concludes that EV implementation has varying effect on nations’ air pollution, which depends upon their share of renewable sources in power generation. Implementation of EVs is found to be sustainably viable for France and Brazil, marginally viable for nations including China and India, while it is found to be not viable for Indonesia.