Abstract:

This study comparatively analyzed the life cycle of electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles by dividing into five categories: raw material production, vehicle manufacture, transportation, operation, and decommissioning. The analysis of environmental impacts on energy use and carbon emissions revealed that electric vehicles have a markedly lower impact in both categories, especially in regions with clean power sources like British Columbia. This conclusion is reached after consideration of the higher environmental burdens of raw material production and decommissioning inherent to electric vehicles. The significantly lower impacts from the operation stage had the strongest effect on the results. Sensitivity analysis showed that a longer lifespan shifted the efficiency balance further toward the electric vehicle