Economic and Climate Benefits of Electric Vehicles in China, the United States, and Germany

Large Decreases in Tailpipe Criteria Pollutant Emissions from the U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Fleet Expected in 2020-2040

The U.S. EPA MOVES3 model was used to assess the impact of the large-scale introduction of electric vehicles on emissions of criteria pollutants (CO, hydrocarbons [HC], NOx, and particulate matter [PM]) and CO2 from the U.S. light-duty vehicle fleet. Large reductions in emissions of these criteria pollutants occurred in 2000-2020. These trends are expected to continue through 2040 driven by turnover of the conventional fleet with old vehicles being replaced by battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and by new internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) with modern emission control systems. Without the introduction of BEVs, the absolute emissions of CO, NOx, HC, and PM2.5 from the U.S. light-duty vehicle fleet are expected to decrease by approximately 61, 88, 55, and 20% from 2020 to 2040. Introduction of BEVs with market share increasing linearly to 100% in 2040 provides additional benefits, which, combined with ICEV fleet turnover, would lead to decreases of absolute emissions of CO, NOx, HC, and PM2.5 of approximately 77, 94, 71, and 37% from 2020 to 2040. Reductions in CO2 emissions follow a similar pattern. Large decreases in criteria pollutant and CO2 emissions from light duty vehicles lie ahead.

Carbon mitigation and health effects of fleet electrification in China's Yangtze River Delta

Fleet electrification is one of the most promising strategies to mitigate carbon emissions and improve air quality. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the currently unclear CO2 mitigation and human health benefits from electric vehicle (EV) adoption and energy decarbonization in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region by integrating fleet modeling, emission projection, air quality modeling and health risk assessment. Based on future socioeconomic trajectories, we project that the total vehicle stock in the YRD region will peak at 107-117 million around 2045-2050. The transition to EVs combined with largely renewable energy in the YRD region can potentially reduce CO2 emissions by 870 Tg in 2060 and brings along substantial health co-benefits with ∼360 avoided premature deaths per million from reduced PM2.5 and O3 concentrations. This study further explores the NO2-attributable burden from road transportation and reveals that fleet electrification could yield greater NO2-attributable health benefits than those from reduced PM2.5 and O3, especially in traffic-dense urban areas. Those findings indicate that China's near-term energy development plans (35% renewable energy) have created the conditions for large-scale EV adoption. Our results imply that the benefits of EVs exhibit substantial spatial heterogeneity, underscoring the importance of region-specific EV incentive policies, and hint that policymakers should prioritize densely populated megacities to maximize the potential for public health gains.

A comprehensive review on isolated and non-isolated converter configuration and fast charging technology: For battery and plug in hybrid electric vehicle

Electric vehicle systems are a promising future transportation system because they play an important role in reducing atmospheric carbon emission and have become a focal point of research and development in the present era. The emerging fast charging technology has the ability to have refueling experiences comparable to gasoline cars. This article discusses existing electric vehicle charging infrastructure with a particular emphasis on rapid charging technologies, which would be needed to meet current and potential EV refueling requirements. Various dc-dc converter topologies for battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are compared and contrasted in this article in terms of performance, output power, current ripples, voltage ripples, conduction loss, recovery loss, switching frequency loss, reliability, durability, and cost. The architecture, benefits, and drawbacks of AC-DC and DC-DC converter topologies for rapid charging stations are also discussed in this article. Furthermore, this study addresses the crucial problems and difficulties associated with electric vehicle converters for direct current rapid charging. Eventually, technical and relevant contributions are provided for an electric vehicle system development.

Multisectoral drivers of decarbonizing battery electric vehicles in China

China has made great progress in the electrification of passenger cars, and the sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have exceeded 10%. We applied a life-cycle assessment (LCA) method to estimate the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions of the past (2015), present (2020), and future (2030) BEVs, incorporating China's carbon peaking and neutrality policies, which would substantially reduce emissions from the electricity, operation efficiency, metallurgy, and battery manufacturing industries. BEVs can reduce cradle-to-grave (C2G) CO₂ emissions by ∼40% compared with internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) on the national-average level in 2020, far more significant than the benefit in 2015. Improved BEV operating efficiency was the largest factor driving emission reductions from 2015 to 2020. Looking forward to 2030, China's BEVs equipped with nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) batteries can achieve a further 43% of CO₂ emissions reductions, among which 51 g km^-1 of reduction is from the well-to-wheels (WTW) stage majorly owing to the further cleaner electricity mix, while other vehicle-cycle benefits are mainly from the advancement of battery (12 g km^-1) and related metal materials (5 g km^-1). We highlight the importance of better material efficiency and synchronized decarbonization through the automotive industrial chain in promoting climate mitigation from transport activities.

Which type of electric vehicle is worth promoting mostly in the context of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality? A case study for a metropolis in China

Electric vehicles (EVs) have been promoted acceleratively to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, however, the GHG emission reduction potential of different powertrain EVs has not been investigated thoroughly. In this study, we firstly quantified and compared the GHG emissions of different powertrain vehicles in a life cycle perspective with particular focus on energy and climate consequences, for current and future integrated scenarios, to facilitate carbon reduction assessment for Shanghai. Four major types of EVs were considered. The results show that life cycle total energy consumption and GHG emissions of all EVs are lower than that of gasoline internal combustion engine vehicles (GICEVs), among which battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) is the lowest. Compared with GICEVs, the total energy use and GHG emissions of BEVs decrease by 34.2% and 41.7% respectively. As the electrification of vehicle powertrain system innovates, the life cycle emissions of GHG are gradually concentrated to the upstream stage. The sensitivity analysis demonstrates that life cycle GHG emissions of vehicles are most sensitive to the proportion of thermal power than other three parameters (utilization rate of recycled steel, vehicle lifetime and curb weight). The scenario analysis indicates that BEVs present the more favorable carbon emission decline performance over other EVs from a long-term perspective. It is estimated that up to 12.5 million tons of GHG emissions could be reduced under the optimistic scenario in 2050 in Shanghai. In the process of energy conversion from oil to electricity in transport in Shanghai, BEVs should be constantly promoted.

Performance and Efficiency Trade-Offs in Brazilian Passenger Vehicle Fleet

The rate of technological progress is an important metric used for predicting the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of future light-duty fleets. A trade-off between efficiency and performance is essential due to its implications on fuel consumption and efficiency improvement. These values are not directly available in the Brazilian fleet. Hence, this is the main gap in knowledge that has to be overcome. Tendencies in all relevant parameters were also unknown, and we have traced them as well, established on several publications data and models. We estimate the three indicators mentioned above for the Brazilian fleet from 1990 to 2020. Although the rate of technological progress was lower in Brazil than that in developed countries, it has increased from 0.39% to 0.61% to 1.7% to 1.9% in subsequent decades. Performance improvements offset approximately 31% to 39% of these efficiency gains. Moreover, the vehicle market is shifting toward larger vehicles, thus offsetting some efficiency improvements. We predict the fleet fuel efficiency for the years 2030 and 2035 using the above-mentioned factors. The predicted values for efficiency can vary by a factor of two. Thus, trade-off policies play a vital role in steering toward the desired goals of reducing the transportation sector’s impact on the environment.

Two-Tier Synergic Governance of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Air Pollution in China's Megacity, Shenzhen: Impact Evaluation and Policy Implication

Making a cost-effective governance of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollution is of great importance for megacities to pursue a sustainable future. To achieve this, the present study advocates megacities to implement a two-tier synergic governance system consisting of both synergic governance between GHG and air pollutant emission reductions and between megacities and their surrounding regions. Based on the LEAP model and WRF-SMOKE-CMAQ simulation platform, this study found that climate governance of China's megacity, Shenzhen, could synergistically contribute to decreasing urban annual PM_2.5 concentration by 5.6% in 2030. Using synergic governance with surrounding regions could further help cap and then quickly decrease the megacity's GHG emissions and lower its PM_2.5 concentrations by an additional 11.8%. The results demonstrated the substantial effects of transdepartment and transregional synergic governance on Shenzhen's GHG emission reduction and air quality improvement. Furthermore, this study suggested road transportation and power generation and supply as the two priority fields for wide-ranging megacities to promote two-tier synergic governance, highlighting an integration of improved urban electrification with high-efficiency electricity use and a renewable-based power supply.

Factors Affecting Electric Vehicle Uptake: Insights from a Descriptive Analysis in Australia

Transport activities are among the major contributors of greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting global climate crisis. Despite some efforts in shifting from internal combustion engines to electric motors, the global market share of electric vehicles (EVs) is very low—about 1%. This figure even goes as low as 0.4% for some developed countries—e.g., Australia. There is a growing, but still limited, number of studies investigating the key factors affecting the uptake of EVs. Additionally, there is no regional analysis in late-moving countries, which would provide knowledge for a better understanding why some countries are falling behind in the EV market. This paper focuses on Australia as a late mover in the EV market and generates insights into a regional analysis of key factors affecting the uptake of EVs. The unit of analysis for this study is determined as the states and territories of Australia. The methodologic approach of the study includes a descriptive analysis of publicly accessible fast and slow charging stations in Australia, the distribution of renewable energy, as well as electric vehicle sales in Australia, along with further factors relating to differences in income and education and subsidies for EVs from the government. The findings of the study reveal that (a) EV uptake conditions is an emerging research topic; (b) renewable energy, EV subsidies, charging stations, income, and education do generally favor EV sales in Australia; (c) the Australian Capital Territory has the highest readiness level among all the Australian states and territories; and (d) future research should be conducted on a local government level to capture the local readiness levels accurately. The study findings inform policymakers, car manufacturers, the energy sector, and scholars on the critical success factors for the uptake of EVs in Australia.