Cost and CO^sub 2^ aspects of future vehicle options in Europe under new energy policy scenarios

New electrified vehicle concepts are about to enter the market in Europe. The expected gains in environmental performance for these new vehicle types are associated with higher technology costs. In parallel, the fuel efficiency of internal combustion engine vehicles and hybrids is continuously impro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energy policy 2010-11, Vol.38 (11), p.7142
Main Authors: Thiel, Christian, Perujo, Adolfo, Mercier, Arnaud
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Comparative analysis
Cost analysis
Costs
Electric vehicles
Emissions control
Energy efficiency
Energy policy
Payback periods
Studies
Vehicles
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Summary:New electrified vehicle concepts are about to enter the market in Europe. The expected gains in environmental performance for these new vehicle types are associated with higher technology costs. In parallel, the fuel efficiency of internal combustion engine vehicles and hybrids is continuously improved, which in turn advances their environmental performance but also leads to additional technology costs versus today's vehicles. The present study compares the well-to-wheel CO^sub 2^ emissions, costs and CO^sub 2^ abatement costs of generic European cars, including a gasoline vehicle, diesel vehicle, gasoline hybrid, diesel hybrid, plug in hybrid and battery electric vehicle. The predictive comparison is done for the snapshots 2010, 2020 and 2030 under a new energy policy scenario for Europe. The results of the study show clearly that the electrification of vehicles offer significant possibilities to reduce specific CO^sub 2^ emissions in road transport, when supported by adequate policies to decarbonise the electricity generation. Additional technology costs for electrified vehicle types are an issue in the beginning, but can go down to enable payback periods of less than 5 years and very competitive CO^sub 2^ abatement costs, provided that market barriers can be overcome through targeted policy support that mainly addresses their initial cost penalty. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0301-4215
1873-6777