An environmental life cycle assessment of electric race car: a well-to-wheel analysis

Abstract

Abstract Purpose The study concerns the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a prototype electric racing car, Formula Student, developed by students of the Poznan University of Technology under the name of eVarta. The main objective of this study is to identify environmental critical points and indicate key elements of the vehicle's life cycle, along with the impact of the assumptions made. Methods In the first part of the work, a literature review and standards review is conducted to organise the information and methodological steps for LCA components and their application in the subsequent stages of the study. The work focusses on defining the right assumptions, the process of data collection, and its appropriate aggregation, as well as the creation of a functional structure for the object under study. SimaPRO software is used to perform the assessment. Results The results of the evaluation show the high importance of the vehicle transportation phase in the entire life cycle and the significant impact of the transport-related processes, mostly considering the fact, that eVarta is a concept racing car, used only in specific conditions of Formula Student races all over the world. Most of the distances between races are covered using external transport means, and eVarta is used only for racing. The second main source of environmental impacts is related with the use of resources associated with the production of the high-voltage traction battery and the use of aluminium and related processes. Conclusions eVarta is a customized concept racing car, designed and built by the team of students of different faculties at Poznan University of Technology (Poland). As a prototype, eVarta demonstrates high levels of environmental burdens related with production materials and techniques. The ratio of these impacts may be limited by using a 3D CAD models to improve the information flows regarding the production of all parts. Moreover, the reduction of the environmental impacts may be reached by enhancement of production of traction battery, substitution of construction materials and improvements during use phase, e.g. implementation of energy recovery systems during braking.