Planet under Pressure

AUDI: DEVELOPMENT OF
A QUALITY SEAL FOR
SUSTAINABLE BATTERIES
The transportation sector is one of the greatest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
Audi has therefore set itself the goal of reducing its carbon footprint by approximately
30 percent by 2025 (compared with the reference year 2015 and over the entire product life
cycle.). This entails significantly reducing CO 2
emissions, which is why Audi is particularly
committed to electric mobility. Since the aim is to reduce the environmental impact of each new
model over that of its predecessor throughout the entire life cycle, the company is creating a life
cycle analysis for vehicles and working to ensure a sustainable battery value chain as a member
of the Global Battery Alliance (GBA).
By Dr. Stefanie Augustine, Josef Schön, and Christoph Praun, Audi
Do you drive to work or visit grandparents
who live 200 kilometers away?
Mobility is a basic human need, and
the demand will continue to rise: The
International Transport Forum anticipates
that passenger transport on the
whole will triple by 2050. Thus, we need
sustainable solutions to counteract the
impact this will have on the climate.
Electric mobility is one way to make both
private and public transportation more
ecological. But how environmentally
friendly are electric cars, really?
Life cycle assessment: Electric cars vs.
combustion-engine vehicles
A life cycle assessment (LCA) can tell us
how environmentally friendly an electric
car is compared with a similar vehicle
with a combustion engine, as well as
where there is opportunity for improvement.
This analysis maps the environmental
impact of a vehicle throughout
the entire product life cycle – from raw
materials extraction and production,
through the utilization phase, all the
way to recycling. Among the important
key figures included here is the amount
of greenhouse gas emissions incurred,
which is measured in the form of CO 2
equivalents. Audi is currently preparing
this type of LCA for the purely electrically
powered Audi e-tron 55 quattro,
which has been available from dealers
since March 2019. The analysis of this
car initially shows that CO 2
emissions
generated during the manufacture of an
Audi e-tron are twice as high as during
production of a comparable vehicle with
an internal combustion engine (Audi Q5
2.0 TFSI quattro S tronic): In the case of
the Audi e-tron, emissions amount to
around 20 metric tons of CO 2
equivalents,
whereas the production of the Audi Q5
incurs just under 10 metric tons.
However, CO 2
emissions level out after
about just half of the car’s total mileage.
This is because the electric car’s utilization
phase – even when it is being
“refueled” with today’s EU electricity
mix – emits significantly less CO 2
than
a comparable vehicle with an internal
combustion engine in this segment. If the
vehicle is powered purely with electricity
from reusable sources, then almost
no emissions are generated, since electric
vehicles drive locally with zero CO 2
emissions. At the end of its product life
cycle (calculated as 200,000 km), and depending
on the energy source, the Audi
e-tron has then emitted about 20 to 35
metric tons of CO 2
into the atmosphere.
However, this figure would be much
higher for a comparable vehicle with
an internal combustion engine.
Two paths to optimization
Two important recommended actions
aimed at making electric cars more environmentally
friendly can be derived
from this LCA comparison. On the one
hand, using “green” electricity to charge
an electric vehicle during the utilization
phase is recommended to keep CO 2
emissions
as low as possible. On the other
80
Global Goals Yearbook 2020