Life cycle assessment of electric vehicles in comparison to combustion engine vehicles: A review

Electric vehicle (EV) are the future of the automobile industry in terms of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and the better life comfort level all over the world. This paper compares the results obtained by various authors in terms of life cycle assessment (LCA) of EV and conventional vehicles powered by fossil fuels, and the life cycle cost (LCC) analysis of the both types of vehicles, as every new technology comes with an additional cost which need to be feasible with respect to the present trends. And also discuss some of the software used for both type of LCA and LCC analysis. The finding of review concludes that with the adoption of EV there is a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) but there is an increase in the human toxicity level due to the larger use of metals, chemicals and energy for the production of powertrain, and high voltage batteries. And in terms of cost it has flexible pricing as there is uncertainty in pricing of future gasoline and electricity mix, higher initial cost at the time of purchasing due to higher pricing of battery.