Metal demand assessment of battery electric vehicles

Management of metal and fossil fuels resources is one of the goals of the electromobility development. The aim of this study was to evaluate cumulative metal demand in battery electric vehicles (BEVs) based on life cycle assessment (LCA). Metal and mineral demand covered the whole life cycle with a special focus on the electric vehicle batteries. Previous papers focused primarily on one category of environmental impact-greenhouse gases emission from electric vehicles with the Well To Wheel method. The paper presented results of LCA for electric vehicles with a lithium-ion battery use for mechanical drive. Based on the LCA carried out it was shown that battery and car production are the main determinants for BEVs in Poland. It is associated with the amount of used different metals demand, particularly manganese, copper, iron, molybdenum and chromium. The work addresses important problems associated with the metals management. This is the first attempt at a cumulative metal demand of BEVs life cycle in Poland.