Life Cycle Air Emissions External Costs Assessment for Comparing Electric and Traditional Passenger Cars

Abstract

This study compares the environmental air emissions external costs of electric, gasoline, and diesel private passenger cars during their entire life cycle. The results provide the decision makers with a complementary and unconventional interpretation of the results of an ISO 14040–compliant life cycle assessment (LCA). Indeed, LCA results are often difficult to communicate and to be understood by the general public; on the other hand, an environmental external costs evaluation, where a single monetary value synthesizes the environmental impacts, can be easily understood, communicated to the broad public, and compared with taxes, incentives, and other economic tools. In the present study, we demonstrate that it is possible to carry out the application of a damage factor to the physical inventory flow. The application of this methodology to an Italian context leads to the conclusion that if we compare the 3 types of vehicles—electric, diesel, and gasoline—of an average midsize car (e.g., Volkswagen Golf), the electric version produces less external cost than the traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, considering both air pollution and climate change. The total life cycle air emissions externalities are 12.07 €/1000 km for the electric version, 21.30 €/1000 km for the gasoline vehicle, and 24.25 €/1000 km for the diesel vehicle. At the same time, the electric vehicle produces less external cost related to the air emissions considering both the entire life cycle and only the processes that occur in Italy. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2019;00:1–11. © 2019 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).