Environmental Impacts of Charging Concepts for Battery Electric Vehicles: A Comparison of On-Board and Off-Board Charging Systems Based on a Life Cycle Assessment

Mona Kabus, Lars Nolting, Benedict J. Mortimer, Jan C. Koj, Wilhelm Kuckshinrichs, Rik W. De Doncker and Aaron Praktiknjo
Additional contact information
Mona Kabus: Chair of Technology and Innovation Management, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
Lars Nolting: Institute for Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN), RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Benedict J. Mortimer: Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS), RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Jan C. Koj: Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Energy and Climate Research–Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (IEK-STE), 52425 Jülich, Germany
Wilhelm Kuckshinrichs: Forschungszentrum Jülich, Institute of Energy and Climate Research–Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (IEK-STE), 52425 Jülich, Germany
Rik W. De Doncker: Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS), RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-31

Abstract: We investigate the environmental impacts of on-board (based on alternating current, AC) and off-board (based on direct current, DC) charging concepts for electric vehicles using Life Cycle Assessment and considering a maximum charging power of 22 kW (AC) and 50 kW (DC). Our results show that the manufacturing of chargers provokes the highest contribution to environmental impacts of the production phase. Within the chargers, the filters could be identified as main polluters for all power levels. When comparing the results on a system level, the DC system causes less environmental impact than the AC system in all impact categories. In our diffusion scenarios for electric vehicles, annual emission reductions of up to 35 million kg CO 2 -eq. could be achieved when the DC system is used instead of the AC system. In addition to the environmental assessment, we examine economic effects. Here, we find annual savings of up to 8.5 million euros, when the DC system is used instead of the AC system.

Keywords: charging infrastructure; electric vehicle; life cycle assessment; AC charging; DC charging; economic assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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