Lifecycle analysis and technoeconomics of batteries for electric vehicles

Abstract:
Electric vehicles (EV) contribute to reducing carbon dioxide emission by replacing the typical internal combustion engine with a battery. The life cycle analysis of the manufacturing and operation of an EV battery is performed through GREET software and different scenarios are set to examine the carbon dioxide emission in its entire lifetime. The techno economics analysis is performed to compare the price of electric vehicles and conventional vehicles, and to investigate the potential monetary effect of imposing carbon tax. The results show that over their lifetime, BEVs will emit only a quarter of the emission of conventional cars in China. Lightweight materials are not expected to lead to significant savings with respect to emissions. From a techno economics perspective, the cost of BEVs is just 10% higher than the price of conventional vehicles currently but it is expected to be 18% cheaper than conventional vehicles by 2030. These results indicate that the deployment of BEVs in China should be encouraged in both the short and long term.