• Energy Research
• 2016-2025close

[EN] The current investigation presents a methodology to quantify the error in the greenhouse gas emissions of different electric passenger vehicles when considering the marginal instead of the average CO2 emissions. Both well-to-wheel and life-cycle assessment were carried out. The energy required for the vehicles was calculated by analyzing passenger cars of different segments and different powertrain systems in various driving cycles using detailed vehicle models. Results obtained were compared to the targets set by the European Union, following the current legislation, to highlight a realistic position of the different powertrains (electric, hybrid and combustion engines) in the current paradigm of the transport sector. The approach followed along the study showed vari-ations respecting many previous works, unveiling higher environmental impact -in terms of CO2 -due to electric vehicles usage, although still below the pollution level of internal combustion engine cars, in the case analyzed. In normal conditions, pollution calculated based on marginal emissions turn to be more than the double in the current scenario for the case studied. The standpoint and methodology presented in the present work demon-strate that using average emissions values of the energy generation systems might lead to gross miscalculation of the environmental impact of the future transport sector. Operacion financiada por la Union Europea a traves del Programa Operativo del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) de la Comunitat Valenciana 2014-2020 con el objetivo de promover el desarrollo tecnologico, la innovacion y una investigacion de calidad. Proyecto IDIFEDER/2021/53, Equipamiento Para El Estudio Del Fenomeno De Combustion No Controlada En Baterias De Vehiculos Electricos, entidad beneficiaria Universitat Politecnica de Valencia. The authors also acknowledge Agencia Valenciana de la Innovacion for partially supporting this research through DETEBAT-VE project (INN-EST/2021/120).