Are Electric Vehicles Really Cleaner?

Rachael Nealer, PhD

Program Manager/Engineer

Vehicle Technologies Office

Presented for Clean Cities Coalition Webinar

June 14, 2016

2

Why do we care about transportation?

Source: EIA, 2016; TEDB, 2016

2013 Energy Consumption of US 2013 GHG Emissions of US

3

For an electric vehicle

For a conventional vehicle

Well-to-wheels

4

65% 3%

17%

5Source: EPA 2015 (eGRID data year 2012) 5

2012

6

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030

Po

wer

Secto

r A

nn

ual

CO

2

Em

issio

ns

(%

of

2005)

Historical (EIA) Modeled

Electricity Emissions are Expected to Decrease Further

Source: NREL Technical Report, February 2016

7

Manufacturing pictures

8

9

10

Life Cycle Assessment of EV

Disposal orRecycling

Total LCA

Manufacturing

Use

11

Battery Electric Cars

2015 Nissan LEAF 2015 Tesla Model S84-mile range 265-mile range

24 kWh battery 85 kWh battery0.3 kWh/mile 0.38 kWh/mile

12 Source: Nealer et al, UCS 2016

Lifecycle Assessment Results (UCS, 2016)

13

Fuel Source Matters

Source: Elowainy, et al. Argonne National Lab, 2016

14 Source: Yuksel et al. Environ. Research Letters, 2016

Cleaner Electricity Grid Dirtier Electricity Grid

15

Major differences and important factors

• Lifetime of the vehicle– Usually around 12-15 years

• Electricity grid mix– Varies by region

– Completely powered by coal still results in 29 MPG equivalent for average EV efficiency

• Vehicles for comparison– Gasoline vs. Hybrid vs. Plug-in EVs

• Driving behavior and temperature– City vs. Highway driving

– Cold vs. Mild temperatures

Thank you!

For additional information on this presentation, please contact:

Rachael Nealer, Program Manager/Engineer Vehicle Technologies Office

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy

rachael.nealer@ee.doe.gov