Environmental Impact of Public Charging Facilities for Electric Two‐Wheelers

Abstract

The environmental characterization of the charging infrastructure required to operate electric vehicles (EVs) is usually overlooked in the literature. Only rudimentary life cycle inventories of EV charging facilities are available. This lack of information is especially noticeable in environmental studies of the environmental performance of electric two-wheelers (E2Ws), none of which have included an analysis of charging facilities, even though they constitute the most successful electric-drive market in the world. This article focuses on characterizing the life cycle of the global warming potential (GWP) and primary energy demand (PED) of two conventional charging facility designs that are widely implemented for charging E2Ws in public spaces. The relative environmental relevance of charging facilities per kilowatt-hour (kWh) supplied to E2Ws is determined by considering a range of use scenarios (variability in the service ratio) and the effect of upgrading the electricity mix to include more renewable energy sources. Savings of over 3 metric tons (tonnes) of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions and 56 equivalent gigajoules can be achieved by implementing an optimized charging facility design. The internalization of the relative environmental burden from the charging facility per kWh supplied to E2Ws can increase the GWP of E2Ws' use phase from 1% to 20% and the PED from 1% to 13%. Although the article focuses on one particular case scenario, the research is intended to provide complementary criteria for further research on the life cycle management of electric mobility systems. Thus, a series of factors that can influence the environmental performance of EV charging networks at the macro scale are discussed. Keywords:charging infrastructure electric vehicles electricity mix global warming potential industrial ecology life cycle assessment Supporting information is available on the JIE Web site

Prospects of Electric Vehicles in the Developing Countries: A Literature Review

“…The availability of infrastructure is instrumental to reduce range anxiety [46]. The infrastructure refers to charging stations needed for the E4Ws to charge the vehicles [47].…”

Application of life cycle thinking towards sustainable cities: A review

“…conventional fuel engines, low sulfur diesel engines, compressed natural gas, or electric vehicles) (Lave et al, 2000). Further, Mendoza et al (2016) studied the environmental performance of public charging facilities, which might be combined with solar panels for better results (Mendoza et al, 2015). Public transportation is also involved in the use of greener vehicles (M3).…”

Development of urban solar infrastructure to support low-carbon mobility

“…In this process, the environmental burden of a functionally equivalent conventional charging station (CCS) for e-bikes was added to the life-cycle environmental burden of the CP design. The LCI data and corresponding environmental burden of the functionally equivalent CCS was calculated using the results provided by Mendoza et al (2014) as a reference; these authors characterized the life-cycle environmental performance of standard public charging facilities for electric two-wheelers. The procedure applied to address this calculation is presented in the SI file (section A.7).…”

“…The incorporation of life-cycle environmental criteria in the planning, design, and management of urban elements related to the support of sustainable modes of mobility is especially relevant. This best practice can contribute to greatly reduce the environmental burden of the built space, thereby increasing the environmental value of greening urban mobility (Mendoza et al, 2014(Mendoza et al, , 2012a(Mendoza et al, , 2012bOliver-Solà et al, 2011). …”