Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of electric and conventional vehicles in Australia

Demand for vehicles with low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has led automakers to develop various types of electric vehicles, which have low or no tailpipe emissions. The use of these cars in countries like Australia, where electricity generation is GHG intensive, results in relatively high emissions at power plants. To explore this trade-off, the present study compares the life-cycle GHG emissions of two functionally-similar cars, an electric vehicle (EV) and a conventional vehicle (CV), that are produced in Japan and used in Australia. The study methods are based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) technique, which estimates the environmental impact of a product-system throughout the life cycle. The results suggest that EVs and CVs have similar life-cycle GHG emissions. Compared with CVs, EVs generate more emissions during production, mainly due to the battery, and slightly fewer emissions during use. The life-cycle emissions of both vehicles are dominated by the use stage, suggesting that future work could focus on exploring the expected variation in the relevant parameters. Use-stage emissions depend mostly on uncertain parameters that are influenced by new automotive and energy technology, and on driving intensities and useful lives.