IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/sit/wpaper/19_1.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Comparing the life-cycle CO2 emissions of the best-selling electric and internal combustion engine cars in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Danielis, Romeo
  • Giansoldati, Marco
  • Scorrano, Mariangela

Abstract

Introduction. The question of whether battery electric vehicles (BEVs) emit more or less CO2 than Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs) and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) along the entire life cycle is still a debated topic in the scientific literature and in the popular press. This paper contributes to the debate by providing an estimate for the best-selling cars in Italy. The methodology. On the basis of the VCA database reporting the CO2 emissions of most of the cars on sale in Italy in 2016, we perform a life-cycle analysis including fuel and electricity production, car\battery manufacturing and disposal, and direct and indirect emissions during the car use. Results. Currently, the BEVs emit 24% less CO2 than gasoline ICEVs, 26% less than diesel ICEVs, and 12% less than HEVs. In 2026 the savings could further increase to 38%, 40% and 24%, respectively, assuming the past trends towards a cleaner electricity mix and no improvement in the conventional and HEVs technologies Conclusion. BEVs should be promoted as an alternative to the ICEVs not only because they reduce air and noise pollution in urban areas but also because they contribute to decrease global CO2 emissions.

Suggested Citation

  • Danielis, Romeo & Giansoldati, Marco & Scorrano, Mariangela, 2019. "Comparing the life-cycle CO2 emissions of the best-selling electric and internal combustion engine cars in Italy," Working Papers 19_1, SIET Società Italiana di Economia dei Trasporti e della Logistica.
    • Handle: RePEc:sit:wpaper:19_1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://sietitalia.org/wpsiet/WP%20SIET%202019_1%20-%20Danielis.pdf
    File Function: First version,
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rusich, Andrea & Danielis, Romeo, 2015. "Total cost of ownership, social lifecycle cost and energy consumption of various automotive technologies in Italy," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 3-16.
    2. Maarten Messagie & Faycal-Siddikou Boureima & Thierry Coosemans & Cathy Macharis & Joeri Van Mierlo, 2014. "A Range-Based Vehicle Life Cycle Assessment Incorporating Variability in the Environmental Assessment of Different Vehicle Technologies and Fuels," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-16, March.
    3. Troy R. Hawkins & Bhawna Singh & Guillaume Majeau‐Bettez & Anders Hammer Strømman, 2013. "Comparative Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Conventional and Electric Vehicles," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 17(1), pages 53-64, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marmiroli, Benedetta & Venditti, Mattia & Dotelli, Giovanni & Spessa, Ezio, 2020. "The transport of goods in the urban environment: A comparative life cycle assessment of electric, compressed natural gas and diesel light-duty vehicles," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    2. Felipe Cerdas & Paul Titscher & Nicolas Bognar & Richard Schmuch & Martin Winter & Arno Kwade & Christoph Herrmann, 2018. "Exploring the Effect of Increased Energy Density on the Environmental Impacts of Traction Batteries: A Comparison of Energy Optimized Lithium-Ion and Lithium-Sulfur Batteries for Mobility Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, January.
    3. Xin Sun & Vanessa Bach & Matthias Finkbeiner & Jianxin Yang, 2021. "Criticality Assessment of the Life Cycle of Passenger Vehicles Produced in China," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 435-455, June.
    4. Shafique, Muhammad & Azam, Anam & Rafiq, Muhammad & Luo, Xiaowei, 2022. "Life cycle assessment of electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles: A case study of Hong Kong," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. Kevin Joseph Dillman & Áróra Árnadóttir & Jukka Heinonen & Michał Czepkiewicz & Brynhildur Davíðsdóttir, 2020. "Review and Meta-Analysis of EVs: Embodied Emissions and Environmental Breakeven," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-28, November.
    6. Garcia, Rita & Freire, Fausto, 2017. "A review of fleet-based life-cycle approaches focusing on energy and environmental impacts of vehicles," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 935-945.
    7. Anne Magdalene Syré & Florian Heining & Dietmar Göhlich, 2020. "Method for a Multi-Vehicle, Simulation-Based Life Cycle Assessment and Application to Berlin’s Motorized Individual Transport," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-26, September.
    8. Nelson, Ewan & Warren, Peter, 2020. "UK transport decoupling: On track for clean growth in transport?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 39-51.
    9. Ghotge, Rishabh & van Wijk, Ad & Lukszo, Zofia, 2021. "Off-grid solar charging of electric vehicles at long-term parking locations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    10. Marit Mohr & Jens F. Peters & Manuel Baumann & Marcel Weil, 2020. "Toward a cell‐chemistry specific life cycle assessment of lithium‐ion battery recycling processes," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(6), pages 1310-1322, December.
    11. Cai, Yanpeng & Applegate, Scott & Yue, Wencong & Cai, Jianying & Wang, Xuan & Liu, Gengyuan & Li, Chunhui, 2017. "A hybrid life cycle and multi-criteria decision analysis approach for identifying sustainable development strategies of Beijing's taxi fleet," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 314-325.
    12. Christian Wankmüller & Maximilian Kunovjanek & Robert Gennaro Sposato & Gerald Reiner, 2020. "Selecting E-Mobility Transport Solutions for Mountain Rescue Operations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-19, December.
    13. Shi, Xiao & Pan, Jian & Wang, Hewu & Cai, Hua, 2019. "Battery electric vehicles: What is the minimum range required?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 352-358.
    14. Rajan Varadarajan, 2017. "Innovating for sustainability: a framework for sustainable innovations and a model of sustainable innovations orientation," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 14-36, January.
    15. Nenming Wang & Guwen Tang, 2022. "A Review on Environmental Efficiency Evaluation of New Energy Vehicles Using Life Cycle Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-35, March.
    16. Anders Skonhoft & Bjart Holtsmark, 2014. "The Norwegian support and subsidy of electric cars. Should it be adopted by other countries?," Working Paper Series 15814, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
    17. Huang, Hai-chao & He, Hong-di & Peng, Zhong-ren, 2024. "Urban-scale estimation model of carbon emissions for ride-hailing electric vehicles during operational phase," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    18. Onat, Nuri Cihat & Kucukvar, Murat & Tatari, Omer, 2015. "Conventional, hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles? State-based comparative carbon and energy footprint analysis in the United States," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 36-49.
    19. Chun Yang & Jui-Che Tu & Qianling Jiang, 2020. "The Influential Factors of Consumers’ Sustainable Consumption: A Case on Electric Vehicles in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-16, April.
    20. Lefeng, Shi & Shengnan, Lv & Chunxiu, Liu & Yue, Zhou & Cipcigan, Liana & Acker, Thomas L., 2020. "A framework for electric vehicle power supply chain development," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sit:wpaper:19_1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Edoardo Marcucci (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/siettea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.