THE RELEVANCE OF THE PRODUCTION PROCESS FOR THE LIFE CYCLE CO₂ EMISSIONS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Excerpt

The Mute electric vehicle developed by the TU München demonstrates that the emissions caused by the production and recycling of electric vehicles add up to or even exceed 50 % of the life cycle CO₂ emissions. In contrast, for vehicles with internal combustion engines, this value is much lower at approximately 20 %. In order to evaluate a vehicle’s impact on the environment, it is not sufficient to focus only on fuel consumption. The Institute of Automotive Technology (FTM) has therefore compiled a CO₂ life cycle assessment for the Mute and developed a methodology for determining and comparing the CO₂ emissions independent of the vehicle’s mileage. …