Mediaroom

Green NCAP — an independent initiative which promotes the development of cars which are clean, energy efficient and not harmful to the environment — announced its first Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) results, as a first step towards developing a consumer rating to measure how green your car truly is.  According to their press release, “While it is still too early to consider an all-encompassing star rating system based on LCA, the information provided underlines the importance of adopting a holistic approach towards the real life cycle environmental impact of modern cars and the role LCA will play in consumer information programmes.”

The LCA results are based on an assessment of 61 different vehicles tested for information. The tests took place between 2019-2021 on new cars with different drivetrains, including: Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs), and Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) running on diesel, petrol, or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The assessments use current and forecasted energy/fuel mixes and include vehicle tests to determine in-use energy consumption and emissions of methane and nitrous-oxide.

The results find that BEVs have the lowest total GHG emissions of all drivetrains but are still comparable to diesel-, CNG- and hybrid-powered vehicles. during the use phase, whereas for EVs, the production phase on average accounts for a larger share of total emissions.

CLEPA members have agreed to contribute to the development of Green NCAP’s LCA methodology via involvement in Green NCAP’s ‘Well-to-Wheel and LCA Task Force’ and the methodology for testing vehicles in their ‘Real-World Fuel/Energy Consumption; Urea Consumption; Driving Range Task Force‘.