Life-cycle assessment of electric vehicles in the United States

The US Department of Energy is completing an extensive energy and environmental assessment of the life-cycle of electric vehicles. The scope of the assessment includes energy and environmental issues associated with manufacturing electric vehicles and their batteries; recycling and disposing of spent electric vehicles and vehicle batteries; operating power plants to support electric vehicle use; and extracting the energy resource required to support the increased demand that will be placed on electric utilities when large quantities of electric vehicles penetrate US markets. In addition, the assessment includes a comparable evaluation of the energy and environmental implications of the conventional vehicles. This paper discusses the analytical framework for conducting the life-cycle assessment of electric and conventional vehicles, methodological and technological issues that are being addressed as part of the assessment, and some preliminary results