Integrated Computational Life Cycle Engineering for Traction Batteries

The environmental burden caused by private transportation represents a significant challenge towards sustainability. Electric vehicles are considered a key technology to reduce the environmental impact caused by the mobility sector. However, the global adoption of electromobility implies shift and diversification of the environmental impacts caused by the transportation sector mainly driven by the production of the battery system. Modeling the life cycle environmental impacts of traction batteries is a time demanding and interdisciplinary task as it involves a high variability and requires an in-depth knowledge of the product system under analysis. To face these challenges, an Integrated Computational Life Cycle Engineering ICLCE framework for EVs has been developed. The ICLCE framework described aims at supporting fast and comprehensive modelling of complex foreground systems in the electromobility field and their interaction with diverse backgrounds and partial contexts.

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Summary............................................................................................................................. 3

Acronyms............................................................................................................................ 4

Contents.............................................................................................................................. 5

Chapter 1: Background and context........................................................................... 8

1. Towards a more sustainable private transportation system ........................... 8

2. The risk of problem shifting ............................................................................. 10

3. Complex systems require tools and methodologies ..................................... 11 4. Objective, context and structure of this work................................................. 13

References......................................................................................................................... 15

Chapter 2: LCE and electromobility........................................................................ 18

5. Environmental sustainability and Life Cycle Engineering........................... 18

5.1. Environmental Impacts of products.............................................................. 20

5.2. Life Cycle Assessment.................................................................................... 22

5.3. Life Cycle Engineering .................................................................................. 26

Definitions and scope...................................................................................... 26

Methods and Tools for LCE........................................................................... 27

LCA- based methods and tools for LCE...................................................... 29

2. Technical aspects of electric vehicles and lithium-ion traction batteries.. 32

2.1. Electric vehicles: definitions and classification.......................................... 32

2.2. Electric vehicle energy demand..................................................................... 35

2.3. Electric vehicle main components................................................................. 39

2.4. Lithium-ion traction batteries......................................................................... 42

Working principles and main cell components.......................................... 42

Battery design and manufacturing................................................................ 47

Battery degradation......................................................................................... 52

Battery Recycling............................................................................................ 52 3. &nb...