Environmental Assessment of Lightweight Electric Vehicles (eBook)

Foreword 6
Acknowledgments 7
Contents 8
Symbols and Abbreviations 11
List of Figures 14
List of Tables 18
1 Lightweight Electric Vehicles—A Good Environmental Choice? 20
1.1 Relevance and Environmental Burdens of Vehicles 20
1.2 Research Objective and Structure 23
References 25
2 Electric Vehicles, Lightweight Design and Environmental Impacts 27
2.1 Electric Vehicles 27
2.1.1 Components and Functioning of Electric Vehicles 27
2.1.1.1 Functioning 28
2.1.1.2 Electric Motor 28
2.1.1.3 Battery 29
2.1.2 Energy Consumption of Electric Vehicles in Use Phase 29
2.1.2.1 Driving Resistances 31
2.1.2.2 Drivetrain Efficiency 32
2.1.2.3 Auxiliaries 32
2.1.2.4 Battery and Charging Losses 33
2.1.2.5 Recuperation 33
2.1.2.6 Driving Cycles 33
2.2 Lightweight Design for Vehicle Engineering 34
2.2.1 Lightweight Design 34
2.2.2 Material Lightweight Design 36
2.3 Environmental Impacts 38
2.3.1 Life Cycle of Electric Vehicles 38
2.3.2 Sustainable Development and Environmental System Analysis Tools 40
2.3.3 Life Cycle Assessment 42
2.3.3.1 Goal and Scope Definition 44
2.3.3.2 Life Cycle Inventory Analysis 45
2.3.3.3 Life Cycle Impact Assessment 46
2.3.3.4 Interpretation 47
2.4 Environmental Impact of Lightweight Electric Vehicles 48
2.4.1 Environmental Impact of Electric Vehicles 48
2.4.2 Environmental Impact of Lightweight Materials 51
2.4.3 Environmental Impact of Lightweight Electric Vehicles 52
References 54
3 State of Research on the Environmental Assessment of Electric and Lightweight Vehicles 59
3.1 Discussion of Existing Approaches 59
3.1.1 LCA Guidelines for Vehicles 59
3.1.2 LCA Studies on Electric Vehicles 62
3.1.3 LCA Studies on Conventional Lightweight Vehicles 65
3.1.4 LCA Studies on Lightweight Electric Vehicles 67
3.2 Comparative Assessment of Existing Approaches 68
3.2.1 Criteria for Comparative Assessment 68
3.2.1.1 Goal and Scope Definition 68
3.2.1.2 Life Cycle Inventory 69
3.2.1.3 Life Cycle Impact Assessment and Interpretation 69
3.2.1.4 Electric Vehicles 69
3.2.1.5 Lightweight Design 69
3.2.1.6 Comparative Assertion 70
3.2.2 Identification of Research Demand 70
References 74
4 Concept for the Environmental Assessment of Lightweight Electric Vehicles 77
4.1 Objective and Requirements 77
4.1.1 Objective 77
4.1.2 Requirements 78
4.1.2.1 Comparison of LEV with Conventional Vehicle and Reference EV 78
4.1.2.2 Use Case Specific Energy Consumption 78
4.1.2.3 Visualization 78
4.1.2.4 Lightweight Design 79
4.2 Concept 79
4.3 System Description 81
4.3.1 Use Pattern 81
4.3.2 Regional Influencing Factors 84
4.3.3 Lightweight Design 85
4.3.4 Energy Consumption 85
4.4 Modelling 85
4.4.1 Energy Consumption of Electric Vehicles Depending on Terms of Use 86
4.4.2 Energy Reduction Value of Electric Vehicles 93
4.5 Visualization 98
4.5.1 Regional Differences 98
4.5.1.1 Population Density 100
4.5.2 Impact of Lightweight Design 100
4.5.3 Impact Categories 102
4.6 Implementation 103
4.6.1 Software Solutions 103
4.6.2 Data and Data Processing 104
4.6.3 Country-Specific Electricity Mixes 105
4.6.4 Vehicle Data 106
4.6.5 Thermo-isopleth Diagrams 106
References 108
5 Case Studies on the Comparison of (Lightweight) Electric Vehicles with Conventional and Reference Electric Vehicles 110
5.1 Comparison of Electric Vehicles and Conventional Vehicles 110
5.1.1 Data Collection and Results 111
5.1.2 Findings 112
5.1.2.1 Basic Scenario (Scenario A) 113
5.1.2.2 Variations of Daily Use (Scenarios B and C) 124
5.1.2.3 Variations of Seasonal Use (Scenarios D and E) 125
5.1.2.4 Analysis of Impact Categories (Scenarios F, G, H and I) 126
5.2 Comparison of Lightweight Electric Vehicles with Reference Electric Vehicles 127
5.2.1 Data Collection and Results 127
5.2.2 Findings 132
References 135
6 Summary, Critical Review and Outlook 137
6.1 Summary 137
6.2 Critical Review 139
6.3 Outlook 140
References 141