Multidimensional assessment of passenger cars: Comparison of electric vehicles with internal combustion engine vehicles

Abstract

In the pursuit of transforming the transportation sector towards sustainability, a technological shift in vehicle drive systems is being promoted worldwide. Conventional gasoline or diesel fueled cars powered by internal combustion engines (internal combustion engine vehicle, ICEV) are to be replaced with alternative cars that are electrically driven (electric vehicle, EV) and powered by a battery, which is either externally charged (battery-electric vehicle, BEV) or internally charged via a hydrogen fuel cell (fuel cell electric vehicle, FCEV). However, whether or not EVs are superior to ICEVs throughout their entire life cycle is still subject to debate. Though considerable numbers of environmental life cycle assessment (eLCA) studies and—to a much lesser extent—life cycle costing (LCC) and social life cycle assessment (sLCA) studies have already been conducted, their individual results alone do not allow decision-makers to draw conclusions concerning the overall sustainability performance of the various vehicle technologies. Therefore, we are presenting a novel approach to analyze ICEV-, BEV-, and FCEV-type passenger cars on a multidimensional basis. This approach is based upon and combines existing studies about eLCA, LCC, sLCA, and further assessments to carry out a comprehensive meta-analysis by using multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods. Through a transparent and differentiated presentation of the results, the adopted approach furthermore enables decision-makers to identify specific aspects influencing the overall performance of each vehicle technology and to take measures that allow for the implementation of sustainable vehicle concepts.