Electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy sources offer the potential to substantially decrease carbon emissions from both the transportation and power generation sectors of the economy. Mass adoption of EVs will have a number of impacts and benefits, including the ability to assist in the integration of renewable energy into existing electric grids. This paper reviews the current literature on EVs, the electric grid, and renewable energy integration. Key methods and assumptions of the literature are discussed. The economic, environmental and grid impacts of EVs are reviewed. Numerous studies assessing the ability of EVs to integrate renewable energy sources are assessed; the literature indicates that EVs can significantly reduce the amount of excess renewable energy produced in an electric system. Studies on wind–EV interaction are much more detailed than those on solar photovoltaics (PV) and EVs. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research.

Electric vehicles and the electric grid: A review of modeling approaches, Impacts, and renewable energy integration

The purpose of this review article is to investigate the usefulness of different types of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies of electrified vehicles to provide robust and relevant stakeholder information. It presents synthesized conclusions based on 79 papers. Another objective is to search for explanations to divergence and “complexity” of results found by other overviewing papers in the research field, and to compile methodological learnings. The hypothesis was that such divergence could be explained by differences in goal and scope definitions of the reviewed LCA studies. The review has set special attention to the goal and scope formulation of all included studies. First, completeness and clarity have been assessed in view of the ISO standard’s (ISO 2006a, b) recommendation for goal definition. Secondly, studies have been categorized based on technical and methodological scope, and searched for coherent conclusions. Comprehensive goal formulation according to the ISO standard (ISO 2006a, b) is absent in most reviewed studies. Few give any account of the time scope, indicating the temporal validity of results and conclusions. Furthermore, most studies focus on today’s electric vehicle technology, which is under strong development. Consequently, there is a lack of future time perspective, e.g., to advances in material processing, manufacturing of parts, and changes in electricity production. Nevertheless, robust assessment conclusions may still be identified. Most obvious is that electricity production is the main cause of environmental impact for externally chargeable vehicles. If, and only if, the charging electricity has very low emissions of fossil carbon, electric vehicles can reach their full potential in mitigating global warming. Consequently, it is surprising that almost no studies make this stipulation a main conclusion and try to convey it as a clear message to relevant stakeholders. Also, obtaining resources can be observed as a key area for future research. In mining, leakage of toxic substances from mine tailings has been highlighted. Efficient recycling, which is often assumed in LCA studies of electrified vehicles, may reduce demand for virgin resources and production energy. However, its realization remains a future challenge. LCA studies with clearly stated purposes and time scope are key to stakeholder lessons and guidance. It is also necessary for quality assurance. LCA practitioners studying hybrid and electric vehicles are strongly recommended to provide comprehensive and clear goal and scope formulation in line with the ISO standard (ISO 2006a, b).

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Environmental impacts of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicles—what can we learn from life cycle assessment?

Is it really the end of internal combustion engines and petroleum in transport

Electric vehicles (EV), including Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV), are becoming more commonplace in the transportation sector in recent times. As the present trend suggests, this mode of transport is likely to replace internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in the near future. Each of the main EV components has a number of technologies that are currently in use or can become prominent in the future. EVs can cause significant impacts on the environment, power system, and other related sectors. The present power system could face huge instabilities with enough EV penetration, but with proper management and coordination, EVs can be turned into a major contributor to the successful implementation of the smart grid concept. There are possibilities of immense environmental benefits as well, as the EVs can extensively reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the transportation sector. However, there are some major obstacles for EVs to overcome before totally replacing ICE vehicles. This paper is focused on reviewing all the useful data available on EV configurations, battery energy sources, electrical machines, charging techniques, optimization techniques, impacts, trends, and possible directions of future developments. Its objective is to provide an overall picture of the current EV technology and ways of future development to assist in future researches in this sector.

https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/201705.0090/v1/download

A Comprehensive Study of Key Electric Vehicle (EV) Components, Technologies, Challenges, Impacts, and Future Direction of Development

The world population depends highly on fossil fuels, particularly for transportation and power generation. This dependency leads to oil price increases because of the depletion of fossil fuels. Burning of fossil fuels also increases greenhouse gas emissions that are greatly responsible for global warming. Thus, electric vehicles (EVs) are considered one of the premium solutions in the land transportation system because they can significantly reduce the dependency on crude oil and minimize transportation-related carbon dioxide emissions along with other pollutants. This study presents an extensive review of the three key areas of EV research, namely, EV charging technologies, the various impacts of EVs, and optimal EV charging station (CS) placement and sizing. Several technical publications related to EV charging technologies are highlighted, and the performance comparison of different EV technologies is discussed. A review of literature on these key areas reveals an increasing interest in these topics in the last decade, with the impacts of EV on the electric power system and the optimal placement and sizing of CS issues widely investigated. By providing an overview of these areas, this study demonstrates the current issues and challenges of widespread deployment of EVs in the market as well as the future research direction in this field. A total of 185 publications are arranged and appended for quick referencing.

Felix Balthasar

Papers

A new comparison between the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of battery electric vehicles and internal combustion vehicles