Li-ion batteries in electric cars greener than believed

For the initial time, researchers at Empa have made a detailed life cycle assessment (LCA) or ecobalance of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, in specific the chemically improved (i.e. more environmentally friendly) version of the ones most frequently utilized in electrical vehicles.

The investigation shows that if the power employed to charge the battery is not derived from purely hydroelectric sources, then it is primarily the operation from the electric car, which has an environmental impact, precisely as is the case with conventionally fuelled automobiles.

The size from the environmental footprint depends on which sources of power are employed to "fuel" the e-mobile.

About the other hand, the Li-ion battery itself has a limited impact about the LCA in the electric car.

This is contrary to initial expectations that the manufacture from the batteries could negate the benefits from the electric powered drive.

Battery powered electric powered cars are often promoted as the ideal solution for the challenges of future mobility, since they produce no exhaust gases in operation.

Li-ion batteries have established themselves over competing lead-acid and nickel metal-hydride (NiMH) sorts due to the fact they're lighter and can store more energy.

Li-ion batteries are also basically maintenance-free, display no memory impact (loss of capacity when repeatedly charged after partial discharge), have a low self-discharge rate and are regarded as safe and long-lived.

Researchers at Empa's "Technology and Society Laboratory" decided to locate out if they are also environmentally friendly for sure.

They calculated the ecological footprints of electrical cars fitted with Li-ion batteries, taking into account all possible relevant factors, from those associated with the production of individual parts all the way via on the scrapping in the automobile as well as the disposal with the remains, including the operation on the vehicle throughout its lifetime.

The analyze shows that the electric powered car's Li-ion battery drive is actually only a moderate environmental burden.

At most only 15 per cent of the total burden might be ascribed to the battery (including its manufacture, maintenance and disposal). Half of this figure, that is about 7.5 per cent with the total environmental burden, occurs through the refining and manufacture in the battery's raw materials, copper and aluminium.

The production from the lithium, in the other hand, is responsible for only 2.3 per cent on the total.

"Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are not as bad as previously assumed," said Dominic Notter, coauthor from the analyze.

The Empa team concluded that a petrol-engined car should consume between three and four litres per 100 kilometers (or about 70 mpg) so that you can be as environmentally friendly as the e-car studied, powered with Li-ion batteries and charged with a typical European electricity mix.

The analyze has just been published from the scientific journal "Environmental Science and Technology".