Reducing the environmental impacts of electric vehicles and electricity supply: How hourly defined life cycle assessment and smart charging can contribute

Abstract

Increasing shares of renewable electricity generation lead to fundamental changes of the electricity supply, resulting in varying supply mixes and environmental impacts. The hourly-defined life cycle assessment (HD-LCA) approach aims to capture the environmental profile of electricity supply in an hourly resolution. It offers a flexible connectivity to unit commitment models or real-time electricity production and consumption data from electricity suppliers. When charging EVs, the environmental impact of the charging session depends on the electricity mix during the session. This paper introduces the combination of HD-LCA and smart charging and illustrates its impacts on the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of BEVs.