Technical: Lifecycle Analysis Comparison of a Battery Electric Vehicle and a Conventional Gasoline Vehicle

[Riddley]

I saw a reference to this study in another forum.

 

UCLA Study - June 2012
Lifecycle Analysis Comparison of a Battery Electric Vehicle and a Conventional Gasoline Vehicle (PDF)

 

Good read - but technical!

 

 

[HannahWCU]

Doing a quick scan of the analysis, I noticed something interesting.  On page 9 they show a Energy and Emissions Per Mile Table.  This table shows that a BEV (battery electric vehicle) emits 0.18 kg CO2eq/mile vs. 0.35 for a CV (conventional vehicle) and 0.23 for a hybrid.  Later in the paper (page 15) it shows what impact different electricity generation sources would have on the BEV emissions.  It shows that if you use average emission factors for electricity generated in the US in place of emissions factors for electricity generated in California, the BEV goes from emitting 0.18 kg CO2eq/mile to 0.29 kg CO2eq/mile.  Furthermore, since emissions from the CV and Hybrid should be the same no matter where in the US the gasoline is produced, outside California (and I am guessing a few other states) a Hybrid will actually produce LESS CO2 emissions over its lifetime vs. a CV or BEV.

 

That said, I know I am oversimplifying this, but it is still interesting.

Edited April 25, 2013 by HannahWCU

[Riddley]

Nice read Hannah!

 

I follow you.  Near the end of your post, your point is, (in less green states) "... the Hybrid will actually produce LESS CO2eq/mile emissions over its lifetime vs. a CV or BEV."

 

This makes sense to me, but I didn't see it until you pointed it out. For the sake of illustration, say you could drive around in either hypothetical State A (Coalville) or hypothetical State B (Solaria). Coalville  generates all of its electricity via coal, and Solaria generates all of its electricity via Solar. In either state, if you drive a Hybrid or a conventional car your energy comes from petroleum, However, if you drive a pure electric vehicle (BEV) in Coalville, then almost all of your energy comes from coal, whereas if you drive a BEV in Solaria, most of your energy comes from solar.

 

In looking at CO2eq/mile over the lifetime of a vehicle in Solaria vs. Coalville, the BEV is going to be the clear winner in Solaria, but the Hybrid will probably be the winner in Coalville.

 

So I have to ask - are you an engineer?   :)

Edited May 4, 2013 by Riddley

[DR61]

Over time, only the plug-in type vehicle will get cleaner as the local grid gets cleaner. 

[HannahWCU]

Nice read Hannah!

 

I follow you. Near the end of your post, your point is, (in less green states) "... the Hybrid will actually produce LESS CO2eq/mile emissions over its lifetime vs. a CV or BEV."

 

This makes sense to me, but I didn't see it until you pointed it out. For the sake of illustration, say you could drive around in either hypothetical State A (Coalville) or hypothetical State B (Solaria). Coalville generates all of its electricity via coal, and Solaria generates all of its electricity via Solar. In either state, if you drive a Hybrid or a conventional car your energy comes from petroleum, However, if you drive a pure electric vehicle (BEV) in Coalville, then almost all of your energy comes from coal, whereas if you drive a BEV in Solaria, most of your energy comes from solar.

 

In looking at CO2eq/mile over the lifetime of a vehicle in Solaria vs. Coalville, the BEV is going to be the clear winner in Solaria, but the Hybrid will probably be the winner in Coalville.

 

So I have to ask - are you an engineer? :)

Thanks, that is exactly what my point was. And yes my degree is in engineering, however, I work as a Safety and Environmental person in industry so I am use to reading technical reports/regulations and reading between the lines.

 

I agree that long term, plug in BEV's will be cleaner because, as the report says, stationary sources are easier/ cheaper to clean the emmissions than from mobile sources. But it was nice to see that they stated (although stated indirectly) that the realative cleaness of the emissions of BEV was dependant on way the electricity is generated.