Identification of principal factors for low-carbon electric vehicle batteries by using a life cycle assessment model-based sensitivity analysis

The electric vehicle battery industry has gone to great lengths to reduce the carbon footprint of batteries, so that they can contribute more to mitigating climate change. Previous life cycle assessment (LCA)-based studies have addressed that fossil-derived electricity and energy should be reduced in battery materials-related processes to develop low-carbon batteries; however, they have not examined the effect of battery performance on the carbon footprint. Thus, this study identifies the most principal factors to be focused on to develop low-carbon batteries based on an LCA model formulating the effect of battery performance and on a sensitivity analysis using the Monte Carlo simulation. By contrast to previous studies, the results of this study show that battery performance metrics (i.e., the number of cycles for charge and discharge, energy capacity, energy efficiency) are more principal factors than the electricity and energy consumption in battery production processes, because these performances lead to comprehensive reductions in the materials and energy used for the life cycle of battery. Therefore, this study can contribute to providing valuable information necessary for battery manufacturers to develop low-carbon batteries.