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)
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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
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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
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