Utilization effects on battery electric vehicle life-cycle assessment: A case-driven analysis of two commercial mobility applications

The utilization has a significant effect on the life-cycle assessment (LCA) of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). This article evaluates this effect in detail by presenting a case-driven LCA for BEVs deployed in two commercial mobility applications. The empirical data was recorded over 2.5 years and 450,000 km. The findings of this article indicate that regular and predictable mobility demand patterns in combination with a high vehicle utilization are favorable conditions for an environmentally beneficial deployment of BEVs. These characteristics allow tailoring the battery capacity to the requirements and avoiding an unnecessary offset from production. When charging the vehicles with electricity from renewable energy sources (RESs), the high operating grade utilizes the comparatively lower environmental impacts per kilometer. A high lifetime mileage allows breaking-even to comparable internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) in most investigated impact categories. Since regular and predictable mobility patterns, as well as a high operating grade, are commonly found in commercial applications these are especially suitable for replacing ICEVs with BEVs from an environmental perspective.