victorian electric vehicle trial mid-term report - Department of Transport

6.2 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS6.2.1 How will electric vehiclesimpact the environment?If run on renewable energy,electric vehicles can providesignificant reductions in total lifetimegreenhouse gas emissions forVictorian drivers. These benefitsincrease as conditions tend towardsmore ‘stop-start’ driving. Impacts fromvehicle operation far outweigh thosefrom vehicle production, and vehicledisposal impacts are expected to berelatively minor.In late 2012, the departmentreleased a paper which provideda comparative assessment of theenvironmental impacts of EVs relativeto their ‘conventional’ petrol vehiclecounterparts in the Victorian contextout to the year 2030 (DOT 2012f).The paper found that the impactsarising from vehicle operation faroutweigh those in relation to vehicleproduction, even allowing for an EVbattery replacement over the vehiclelife. Vehicle disposal impacts, includingthose of the EV battery, were found tobe negligible due to the high expectedrate of material recycling.The dominant influence of vehicleoperation on EV lifecycle impactshighlights the importance of the wayin which electricity is made, energyconversion efficiency, and the way inwhich a vehicle is used on the overallenvironmental performance.The source electricity used to powerelectric vehicles is a key issue inVictoria. Despite various influencesdriving decarbonisation of thestationary energy sector, projectionsindicate that for a vehicle operating onVictoria’s grid electricity thebreakeven point in terms of carbonemissions from vehicle operationis some years away. Conversely, anelectric vehicle operating on renewableenergy may provide a net benefit interms of lifecycle carbon emissionswithin three years of operation,and a saving of over 50 per centacross the 20-year average Victorianvehicle lifetime.210200Electric vehicleenergy economy(Wh / km)190180170Nissan LEAFenergyeconomy=173 Wh/kmFull fuel cycleemissions(gCO 2e/km)200 – 300100 – 2000 – 100Mazda 3 SP20= 154 gCO 2e/km1601501401301200 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1Grid emissions intensity(tCO 2e/MWh)Vic 2030 grid emissionsintensity = 0.78 tCO 2e/MWh1101.2 1.3 1.4Vic 2012 grid emissionsintensity = 1.35 tCO 2e/MWhFigure 52. Chart depicting the interrelationship between EV energy economy and the electricity grid emissions intensity indetermining full fuel cycle greenhouse gas emissions, including some pertinent figures for comparison (DIT 2012, DCCEE 2012b,personal communications).CREATING A MARKET 105