E-mobility: Highly charged driving

Do electric cars help to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the transport sector? Oeko-Institut is addressing this question in a number of research projects

A million electric vehicles are to be put on the German market by 2020. The German government set this target in its ‘National development plan for e-mobility’ in August 2009 and has created several support programs on that basis. At the same time automobile manufacturers and utility companies are stepping up their efforts to develop electric vehicles and the necessary charging stations. Similar activities can be observed in other EU countries and other important automobile markets such as Japan, the USA and China.

The increasing public and commercial interest in the development of electric cars has several causes. The successful market introduction of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which combine a conventional ground propulsion system with an on-board rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) to achieve better fuel economy, shows that vehicles can be increasingly powered by electricity. Thanks to improved technology it now seems to be possible that vehicles can be fit with large battery systems. It is now even conceivable that long journeys can be made powered by electricity alone and that the conventional propulsion system can be done away with altogether.

In view of global climate change, the pressure to take action is also increasing, including pressure on the transport sector to reduce GHG emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. In this context electric vehicles are a long-term option which is gaining in significance.

Background
In order to be able to assess the climate impacts of electric vehicles, the total emissions have to be considered in comparison to conventional vehicles. Electric cars do not emit any climate-damaging CO2 while being driven but the related electricity production can involve high emissions. Only when the “green” car is fed with electricity from renewable sources does it represent a real benefit for the environment.

Still facing challenges
Large-scale market introduction would have effects on the demand for raw materials since diverse metals – some of which are rare – are used in batteries and electric engines. New paths would therefore have to be taken in the recycling of electric cars.

In spite of large potentials there are great challenges still facing electric vehicles in their journey towards market maturity. Oeko-Institut (Institute for Applied Ecology) has now started a series of research projects and wants to contribute to closing gaps in knowledge about e-mobility, thereby facilitating reliable estimation of the future reduction of the transport sector’s environmental impacts.

Dr. Wiebke Zimmer, Researcher at Oeko-Institut:
“On the basis of reliable research we will be examining under what conditions electric cars reduce environmental impacts. E-mobility can, in our view, make an important contribution to climate protection in the long term – only, however, when the policy, technical and economic framework conditions are designed with this in mind.”

Overview of new projects

Who’s influencing who? Electric cars and the energy sector
How attractive and accepted are different concepts of e-mobility in Germany? What interactions are there between electrically powered vehicles and the power sector? What benefits the environment? How do policy, technical and economic framework conditions have to be designed so that electric cars contribute to substantially reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transport sector in the long term? Together with the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE) Oeko-Institut is addressing these questions in the project ‘Maximising the reduction of environmental impact by means of electric vehicles – Integrated analysis of vehicle use and the energy sector in Germany’. This research project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (hereafter the German Environment Ministry).
More information can be found here

Electric cars at the software developers SAP
Can electric cars be integrated in the company car pool? When can corporations best implement them as company cars? Are they accepted by the drivers who thereby change their own mobility behaviour? Oeko-Institut is addressing these questions in cooperation with the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE) and the Hochschule Mannheim (Mannheim University of Applied Sciences), using the software developers SAP as an example. The experts are providing support in the scientific aspects of the use of electric cars as company cars. The test fleet is to be charged with eco-electricity delivered by the local energy supplier MVV. From mid-2010 onwards the electric cars of different manufacturers are being tested. The ‘Future Fleet’ project is also being funded by the German Environment Ministry.
More information can be found here

Battery recycling: Cooperation with Daimler AG, Umicore and TU Clausthal
How can lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles be recycled efficiently and in an environmentally friendly way? A consortium consisting of the German automobile corporation Daimler AG, the technology company Umicore and Clausthal University of Technology (TU Clausthal) is developing an achievable concept for this issue. The partners take into consideration the total process chain from batteries designed so that they can be efficiently dismantled, via logistics processes (collection, transport, storage) and dismantling, to recycling of valuable resources (lithium, cobalt, etc.). The aim is to create the requirements so that far-reaching recycling can later be realised. The focus of Oeko-Institut’s researchers is to determine the relevant climate impacts in order to conduct an environmental impact assessment of the processes involved. The LiBRi project is funded by the German Environment Ministry.

Critical analysis of international knowledge on e-mobility and open questions
A critical literature review of current state-of-the-art technology and the environmental impacts arising from the large-scale introduction of electric cars in Europe has already been conducted. Researchers at Oeko-Institut have been commissioned by the European Environment Agency (EEA) to review over 400 sources of literature for the European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change. A detailed analysis of current knowledge and findings is now available. In addition the team of researchers has derived further questions which urgently need to be addressed to ensure reliable assessment of e-mobility.

Further information can be found here

E-mobility
In cooperation with Daimler AG, Oeko-Institut is examining the use patterns and market potentials of small electric cars in the case of private and public use.

OPTUM resources
Within the scope of the research project on resource efficiency Oeko-Institut is analysing – together with our LiBRi partners – the effects of the increasing distribution of e-mobility on global resource availability and possible recycling options.

• Chemicals Management and Technology Assessment
• Energy and Climate
• Emission and Ambient Pollution Control, Radiation Protection
• Agriculture and Biodiversity
• Sustainable Consumption
• Sustainable Mobility
• Sustainable Resource Management
• Sustainable Enterprises
• Nuclear Engineering and Facility Safety
• Law, Policy and Governance