Light-Duty Vehicles Electrification: Carbon Dioxide Reduction Impact Potential and Considerations of Its Effect on Electricity Generation System

Abstract

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">In the context of the race toward minimum road transportation carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, the needs for tools comparing various powertrain options are of the highest importance. Various authors have demonstrated the necessity to take into account the full life cycle assessment (LCA), a simplified tank-to-wheel calculation being unsatisfactory in providing guidance regarding the optimized technological choices depending of variables manufacturing and operating conditions.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">There are several examples to be found in the literature but they have been found to be very specific to most of their assumptions (e.g., vehicle models, electricity carbon intensity for usage or production, etc.). This paper focuses first on possibly to establish a more general model and relative graphic tool to compare carbon foot print of various powertrains with incremental electrification levels of light-duty vehicles (spark ignition engine, full hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicle), enabling to choose relevant parameters for the production and the usage of the vehicles.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">As expected, the level of electrification is identified as a key parameter of the overall vehicle carbon footprint. However, electrifying the fleet represents a major challenge for the electricity generation system and grid, requesting detailed analysis. That’s the subject of the second part of the study, which also proposes a graphic way of analyzing the situation. Examples are being provided for European countries with different energy strategy (i.e., France and Germany), including a tentative to consider the possibilities offered by vehicle to grid (V2G) to overcome intermittency nature of ReNeWable energy sources (RNW) such as PhotoVoltaic solar (PV) and wind turbines (WIND).</div></div>