No abstract

Nissan Eaton Leaf 4.2 kWh Residential energy storage UK (Nissan, 2017a) Nissan Eaton & The Mobility House Leaf 4 MWh / 4 MW Peak shaving, Backup power Netherlands (Nissan, 2016) Nissan Sumitomo Leaf 400 kWh/600 kW Renewable energy Japan (St.John, 2015) Mitsubishi & PSA EDF & Forsee Power Peugeot Ion, C-zero & iMiev n/a Renewable energy France (Green Car Congress, 2015) BMW UC San Diego Mini-E 160 kWh / 100 kW Renewable energy USA (California Energy Commission, 2012) BMW Vattenfall & Bosch ActiveE & i3 2.8 MWh / 2 MW Renewable energy Germany (Lambert, 2016) BMW Vattenfall i3 12 kWh / 50 kW Fast charging Germany (BMW, 2014) Renault Connected Energy Zoe 50 kWh / 50 kW Fast charging UK (Renault, 2017a)

Electric vehicles are considered the most promising alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles towards a cleaner transportation sector. Having null tailpipe emissions, electric vehicles contribute to fight localized pollution, which is particularly important in overpopulated urban areas. However, the electric vehicle implies greenhouse gas emissions related to its production and to the electricity generation needed to charge its batteries. This study focuses the analysis on how the electric vehicle emissions vary when compared to internal combustion engine vehicles, depending on the electric power plant fleet and the efficiency during the use-phase. For this to be done, the GWP associated to the electricity generation on the electric vehicle most selling European countries are calculated. Similarly, electric vehicle’s use-phase energy efficiency is calculated under a wide range of driving conditions using the Monte Carlo method. The results from energy production and energy use-phases are compared to the GWP calculated for internal combustion engine vehicles for six different driving cycles, to obtain the threshold values for which electric vehicles provide GWP reduction. These threshold values are then matched with the current electricity power plant fleet and the electric vehicle promotion incentives of the European countries considered in the study, showing that some countries (e.g. France or Norway) are better-suited for electric vehicles adoption, while countries like Spain or Portugal should boost electric vehicle promotion policies. Furthermore, other countries in Europe, such as Germany or the UK that are doing an effort on decarbonizing their power plant fleet, do not offer immediate greenhouse gas emission reductions for the uptake of electric vehicles instead of conventional cars.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Nowadays, the electric vehicle is one of the most promising alternatives for sustainable transportation. However, the battery, which is one of the most important components, is the main contributor to environmental impact and faces recycling issues. In order to reduce the carbon footprint and to minimize the overall recycling processes, this paper introduces the concept of re-use of electric vehicle batteries, analyzing some possible second-life applications.\ud Methods\ud First, the boundaries of the life cycle assessment of an electric vehicle are defined, considering the use of the battery in a second-life application. To perform the study, we present eight different scenarios for the second-life application. For each case, the energy, the efficiency, and the lifetime of the battery are calculated. Additionally, and based on the global warming potential, the environmental impact of the electric vehicle and its battery on a second-life application is determined for each scenario. Finally, an environmentally focused discussion on battery electrodes and research trends is presented.\ud Results and discussion\ud For the selected scenarios, the second life of the battery varies from 8 to 20 years depending on the application and the requirements. It has been observed that the batteries connected to the electricity grid for energy arbitrage storage have the highest impact per provided kilowatt hour. On the contrary, the environmental benefit comes from applications working with renewable energy sources and presenting a longer lifetime. We pointed out that a correlation between cycling conditions and degradation mechanisms of the electrode materials is compulsory for proper use of the electric vehicle battery in a second-life application.\ud Conclusions\ud To limit the environmental impact, batteries should be associated with renewable energy sources in stationary applications. However, it is more profitable to re-use Li-ion batteries than to use new lead-acid batteries. Although many batteries applied for electric vehicles use graphite-based anodes, the latter may not be the most suitable for the second-life application. A better understanding of Li-ion battery degradation during the second-life application is required for the different existing chemistries.Postprint (author's final draft

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