VW study shows the ecological profitability of the Golf-E after 100,000 km

VW commissioned one of the most ambitious studies of the environmental “cost” of production and operation of an electric vehicle and a similar engine with an internal combustion engine, which took into account a large number of factors, including sources of power generation, used to drive a vehicle, recycling, total CO2 emissions both during production and during operation. VW himself called this approach "Cradle to Grave" (free translation: "from the cradle to the grave").

To obtain the most accurate representation, “similar” cars were chosen, that is, electric golf, as well as golf with a diesel engine, gasoline engine and gas engine.

How deep and laborious this study was can be traced by the example of calculating data for a car tire. It takes into account not only the energy required for its manufacture, but also the energy costs of soot, silica sand, steel cord, nylon and other components, including the energy consumption for various stages of production, such as vulcanization. It was also taken into account from which sources electricity was obtained at the places of production / production of raw materials, or where the individual stages of production took place.
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For each car, a similar calculation was made for 3000-5000 parts required for its manufacture in order to ultimately get the total costs in the form of CO2 emissions. Similar calculations were made to account for the cost of generating both electricity in different regions, and for the fuel needed to drive a car. From the point of view of VW, a similar analysis shows that ultimately the electric car will be more environmentally friendly than a car with internal combustion engines, though after 100,000 km and if it is assumed that the lifespan of a modern car is 200,000 km.



In absolute terms, the cost of producing diesel golf is five tons of CO2 , while electric golf requires twelve tons .

After 100,000 km of run, electro-golf will catch up with diesel golf in terms of emissions and in the future its final eco-balance to 200,000 km will be positive in comparison with a diesel car. 25 tons of CO2 for an electric car against 30 tons of CO2 for a diesel golf.



If we take into account only the cost of a kilometer, then even with the current "mixed" electricity (from non-renewable and renewable energy sources) electric golf has a better eco-balance compared to any other type of drive. For comparison, the calculation was based on the WLTP cycle, in which electric golf is able to travel 253 km on a single charge. In numbers, it looks like this: 120g / km for electro-golf, 140g / km for diesel golf, 151g / km for liquefied gas golf and 173g / km for gasoline golf.

VW tried to extrapolate calculations for all drive options until 2030. Subject to the further development of batteries, which will increase mileage to 438 km from a single charge and increase the share of electricity from renewable sources, we will get a reduction in emissions to 95g / km of path for electric golf.

Internal combustion engines also need to improve their readings primarily due to the introduction of an additional electric motor. (Note: most likely is the mild-Hybrid version with a 48-volt on-board network, when a hybrid starter-generator is used that can effectively use recovery during braking, a similar system is already being installed on some German cars). Then the estimated amount of CO2 emissions for diesel and gas golf will be reduced to 114g / km of travel, for gasoline - to 135g / km of travel.

Note from the translator: at one time we drove more than 50,000 km in an Audi A2 car with a 1.4 TDI diesel engine for 75ls. The car entered the market back in 1999. From the very beginning of the operation, records were taken of the actual fuel consumption by check from a gas station; therefore, CO2 emissions per kilometer of track are calculated quite simply. In our case, it turned out 118g / km. And this is not the most economical version, since the A2 3L 1.2 TDI was released, the so-called “drei Liter Auto”, which in the combined cycle was content with three liters of diesel per 100 km of track. If you look at the data on the spritmonitor, then the average emission in the region of 87g / km for such a car is quite a real story. This car in terms of comfort (in the four-seater version) is still somewhat more comfortable than even the seventh golf and is not inferior to him in the size of the trunk.

The fact that the production of an electric car is much more expensive than a car with an internal combustion engine is mainly associated with the cost of production of electric batteries. It accounts for more than 40% of total emissions. VW assumes that because of the further improvement of production technologies, by 2030 the amount of emissions in the battery manufacturing process will be reduced by 30%, and by 2050 - by 50%.

One of the important factors in considering the amount of CO2 emissions, both in the production and operation of the electric vehicle, is how the electricity was generated. At the moment, electric golf, produced in Germany and having traveled 200,000 km across Germany, will be guilty of discharging 142g / km of track (in the United States - exactly the same amount), on average in the European Union countries - 119 g / km of track (Note: Germany is still quite actively used coal plants for the production of electricity, although their percentage decreases every year). If you operate an electric car using only wind power, then it will be responsible for the release of 59g / km of track. In China, where the share of power plants on non-renewable energy sources prevails, it turns out 183g / km of the road.

VW intends to reduce CO2 emissions from battery production by using recyclable materials. Thus, only in the production of the cathode is it possible to reduce the emission level by 30%. If for processing also use electricity from renewable sources, the savings will reach 50%.

Note 1.

Recently there was news that Audi will not be able to collect the planned 55,000 e-tron electric cars this year, instead it is planned to assemble 45,000 cars. The reason - the supplier of LG-Chen batteries is not able to supply the required number of batteries. The Volvo Polestar division faced the same problems. The supplier is the same.

Note 2.

In Germany at the beginning of 2018 very strong winds were blowing and there was a paradoxical situation when more electricity was generated due to wind power than was necessary. Since there are currently no systems capable of storing electricity in large quantities, this has led to the fact that negative electricity prices have appeared on the spot electricity market on such days. A total of 140 hours were negative prices for electricity .
Here you can see the plate for months when there was a negative price.

Note 3.

The consequence of the fact that there are no systems capable of stocking a large amount of electricity, and the production of wind / solar energy is poorly predictable, is the need for complete duplication of all alternative energy sources, since there are cases when alternative energy produces too little. The most popular solution for duplication is the use of gas power plants, since they allow you to fairly quickly regulate the production of electricity. Unfortunately, the ecological balance of CO2 in this case turns out to be worse than if the gas power plant would constantly work optimally without alternative energy sources. The second consequence of the need for duplication is one of the highest prices for electricity in the European Union.

The full report in PDF format is available here .

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