Methods & Tools for LCA & LCC

This document, by the European Environment Agency (EEA), is a comprehensive report that examines the environmental impacts of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) throughout their entire life cycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life processing.

In the frame of the European project SCAPE, this work analyses the environmental impacts associated with key materials from parts and auxiliaries of a conventional EV power converter. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was used to perform the assessment. Four end-of-life scenarios with different recyclability rates per material category were evaluated considering optimistic, pessimist and current recoverability rates. Results showed the consumption of non-renewable energy resources mainly based on fossil fuels as the major contributor to environmental impacts. Particularly, metals from the printing circuit board, such as gold, silver, and Copper + Molybdenum are the largest contributors. Recycling scenarios led to savings of up to 40% among impact categories.

This study provides an up-to-date expert assessment and comparison between the life cycle’s carbon footprint of battery electric and internal combustion engine passenger cars. It presents evidence from the literature and from life cycle assessment modelling and concludes with policy recommendations. The analysis includes sensitivities, regional variations for six Member States, and also the effects of technical and legislative development on the potential outlook up to 2050.

The research presented in a poster format, focuses on the environmental impacts of electric traction machines (ETM) used in the electrification of vehicle fleets. While Electric Vehicles (EVs) offer significant benefits in terms of decarbonization, concerns have been raised regarding the environmental effects throughout the lifecycle of ETMs, from resource extraction to end-of-life treatment.

In this study, the VUB aims to analyze the environmental impacts of ETMs, with a particular focus on the use of permanent magnets (PM) containing strategic raw materials. The research explores novel recycling processes for PMs, aiming to mitigate environmental impacts associated with their production and disposal.

The research methodology employs Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), taking a cradle-to-grave approach to evaluate the environmental footprint of ETMs. Two scenarios will be compared: one with standard end-of-life treatment and the other integrating innovative PM recycling processes.

The results of the study are expected to shed light on the potential environmental benefits of circularity strategies in ETM design. Insights gained from this research will inform Maxima’s broader objective of developing more efficient ETMs with reduced reliance on strategic resources.

The EM-TECH project presented their approach for a new end-of-life scenario for in-wheel motors at the Eco-Mobility 2024 Conference organized by A3PS.

The proposed end-of-life scenario is based on the following key considerations:

• Urge for a directly applicable solution to recover rare earths from e-motors.
• Lack of standardization in the current design of e-motors, which hinders the development of robotic solutions to automatically disassemble the permanent magnets. Furthermore, no legislation regarding design standardization is considered to be implemented in the near future, since this can jeopardize seriously the innovation and improvements for e-motors.
• Challenges in the non-destructive extraction of internally mounted permanent magnets.
• Reduction in rare earths content in new generations of e-motor, which decreases their monetary value at the end-of-life stage.
• Expansion of the primary production industry of rare earth elements in Europe.

This report evaluates an Integrated Motor Drive (IMD) developed for electric trucks, with the aim of reducing environmental impacts and improving the circular use of materials. The IMD consists of four main components: inverter, electric motor, gearbox, and heatsink. The study focuses on how design improvements, repairability, reuse, remanufacturing, and new business models can improve sustainability over the full product life cycle. A life cycle assessment with a cradle-to-grave scope was carried out for 3 million kilometers of truck operation. The improved modular design enables easier repair, extends the IMD lifetime and reduces the number of units required while lowering the material demand. Three end-of-life scenarios were assessed. The baseline scenario reflects current practice and delivers limited benefits. Improved remanufacturing in the second sce-nario leads to clear gains in circularity and resource efficiency. The strongest results are achieved with an advanced circular business model scenario based on a leasing model, where the manufacturer retains ownership of the IMD. This approach enables high return rates, extensive reuse, and effective remanufacturing. Environmental results show that circular strategies mainly reduce impacts related to resource use and critical raw materials, while climate change impacts are dominated by electricity consumption during use. Reuse and remanufacturing are especially important for reducing dependence on critical materials such as neodymium used in motor magnets. The study concludes that combining efficient design, improved repairability, and suitable business models can significantly enhance the environmental and resource performance of electric truck powertrains.

Active suspensions in automotive applications are designed to improve vehicle stability and comfort and reduce vibration transmission from the road surface. Active systems often include a dedicated actuator, and, to reduce their mass and energy absorption, it is a typical choice to rely on brushless electric motors with permanent magnets containing Critical Raw Materials such as Neodymium, a Rare Earth Element (REE), offering favorable power density values. Although these systems offer clear advantages in terms of ride quality and performance, their direct and indirect energy requirements, combined with their dependence on resource-intensive materials, raise concerns about life cycle sustainability: in other words, there is a trade-off between production impact (relevant for REE) and use impact (reduced by REE adoption). To address this issue, the research proposes a method to estimate energy consumption during the use phase of a vehicle through a dedicated parametric modeling and simulation framework; the aim is to evaluate the energy performance of active suspension systems under different road and driving conditions. The analysis explores how design parameters and operational choices affect energy consumption and efficiency. The simulation results reveal a marked sensitivity of system performance to road profiles and driving scenarios, highlighting the importance of holistic assessments during the early stages of design. The proposed framework represents a first step toward integrating circular design principles into the development of active suspensions. By combining technical and environmental perspectives, it supports the development of next-generation automotive components that balance comfort, performance, and sustainability.

Deliverable D6.3 summarizes the outcomes regarding Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC). It is related to Task 6.3, which is concerned with the assessments in terms of environmental and economic impacts, namely LCA and LCC, of the proposed innovations in EM-TECH. The analysis is carried out on two electric drivetrains to which it will be referred to as “EM-TECH solutions”. To address the potential savings of the EM-TECH solutions, they have been compared with state-of-the-art (SotA) e-motors to which it will be referred to as “baseline solutions” afterwards. These baseline solutions are intended to be representative of the state-of-the-art in Europe. The identification and detailed LCA and LCC assessments of the baseline solutions were the objectives of Task 2.2 of WP2 and were included in deliverable D2.2.

Results of the research on "Electric drive LCA & LCC methodology for engineering services" from the EU-funded project EM-TECH.