BEVs outperform petrol cars on lifecycle emissions: Report

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) significantly outperform petrol powered internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) in reducing greenhouse gas emissions over their full lifecycle, a report said on Monday.

The operational emissions for an ICEV are at 53.84 tonnes of CO2e (Carbon Dioxide Equivalent) versus 33 tonnes for a BEV on India’s current grid with 28 per cent renewables, said the report from the Centre for Excellence in Energy and Telecommunications, Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Immersive Technology and Entrepreneurship Labs.

With fully renewable electricity, BEV operational emissions drop to a negligible 0.03 tonnes, the report highlighted.

Using a dynamic lifecycle model over a standard lakh kilometre lifespan, the study found that manufacturing emissions without renewables or recycling were 8.66 tonnes for ICEVs and 9.66 tonnes for BEVs. However, with 100 per cent renewable energy and recycling, these figures drop dramatically to 2.89 tonnes for ICEVs and 2.54 tonnes for BEVs, giving BEVs a clear advantage

BEVs convert around 90 per cent of electricity into traction energy, compared to less than 25 per cent for petrol engines. This inherent efficiency advantage further reduces overall energy demand and associated emissions.

The report projected that by 2040, advanced recycling could recover up to 95 per cent of key materials and cut manufacturing emissions by 30-40 per cent. In contrast, ICEVs are fundamentally constrained by their carbon-intensive combustion process, with about 80 per cent of their lifecycle emissions occurring during operation and limited potential for efficiency improvements.