Integration of drivers' routines into lifecycle assessment of electric vehicles

With the aim of minimising Green House Gases (GHGs) emissions, older Internal Combustio Engine Vehicles (ICEVs) are being banned from circulating in city centres around the world. Different legislations have been passed to phase-out ICEVs with the parallel introduction of cleaner means of transportation such as Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs). While different Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) models that calculate the carbon footprint of vehicles exist, these models tend to average the carbon footprint per energy unit throughout the day—instead of measuring the actual carbon footprint during charging times, which is directly correlated to the generation mixture at that specific point—and therefore fail to accurately map emissions. In this paper actual time of charging is incorporated in LCA aiming to increase the accuracy and the fairness of the comparison of the different technologies, using actual consumption data gathered from different countries in Europe.