Comparative Environmental Life Cycle and Cost Assessment of Electric, Hybrid, and Conventional Vehicles in Lithuania

Kamilė Petrauskienė, Arvydas Galinis, Daina Kliaugaitė and Jolanta Dvarionienė
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Kamilė Petrauskienė: Institute of Environmental Engineering, Kaunas University of Technology, 44239 Kaunas, Lithuania
Arvydas Galinis: Lithuanian Energy Institute, 44403 Kaunas, Lithuania
Daina Kliaugaitė: Institute of Environmental Engineering, Kaunas University of Technology, 44239 Kaunas, Lithuania
Jolanta Dvarionienė: Institute of Environmental Engineering, Kaunas University of Technology, 44239 Kaunas, Lithuania

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: Electric mobility is promoted as a future transport option that has environmental and economic benefits and encourages sustainable urban transportation. The aim of this study is to reveal the changes in environmental and economic performance if we switched from internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) to battery electric (BEV) or hybrid electric (HEV) vehicles. Therefore, this research presents a comparative environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) from the Cradle-to-Grave perspective of the vehicles and a Well-to-Wheel analysis of their fuel supply. Moreover, an LCA of a BEV was performed under diverse electricity mix scenarios, which are forecasted for 2015–2050 in Lithuania. From an economic point of view, a life cycle costing was conducted for the same vehicles to estimate the economic impacts over the vehicle life cycles under Lithuanian conditions. The results show that ICEV-petrol contributes the major environmental damage in all damage categories. BEVs with the electricity mix of 2020–2050 scenarios, which are composed mainly of renewable energy sources, provide the least environmental impact. The economic results reveal that BEV and ICEV-diesel are the most cost-efficient vehicles, with the total consumer life cycle costs of approximately 5% and 15% less than ICEV-petrol and HEV, respectively.

Keywords: renewable energy; life cycle assessment; environmental impact; electric vehicle; life cycle cost assessment; conventional car; sustainable mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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