Life cycle environmental impacts and carbon emissions: A case study of electric and gasoline vehicles in China

Abstract

Under the pressure of the global demand for environmental protection, the Chinese government has placed significant importance to the development and application of electric vehicles (EVs). However, the energy-saving and emission-reduction features of EVs remain the subject of debate. The current study conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) on the power system of a gasoline vehicle (GV) and two EVs powered by lithium–iron ferrous phosphate (LFP) battery and nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) lithium battery based on Chinese practical production data. Results show that EVs have larger abiotic depletion potential (ADP) and environmental impact comprehensive value than GVs during the life cycle. The comprehensive environmental load of the LFP power system is 376% higher than that of the GV power system, and the comprehensive environmental load of the NCM power system remains 119% higher than that of the GV power system. The amounts of CO2, PM2.5–10, PM2.5, SO2 and CO emissions from EVs are significantly lower than those from GVs with respect to Chinese energy-saving policies and actual emission-reduction techniques. In addition, sensitivity analysis results indicate that the optimisation of electric power structures can reduce GWP, CO and CO2 by 15%, 37% and 14%, respectively. Additionally, the increase in battery energy density by 100 Wh/kg can reduce the emissions of air pollutants by 14–20%. Lastly, this study puts forward the following suggestions: optimise domestic energy structures, increase the proportion of clean energy, prioritise the promotion of the EVs in South China and increase battery energy density.