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Energy rating methodology for light-duty vehicles: geographical impact

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Abstract

The aim of this paper was to describe a new energy dependency score methodology and its consequent application to cars sold in twelve regions: Europe (EU-28) and eleven specific countries worldwide (Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and USA). This methodology was developed as a potential tool to inform consumers of their choice impact on the country’s economy. This methodology is based on primary energy assessments and origins for each energy pathway associated with a gasoline-, diesel-, natural gas (used for H2 production)- or electricity (balanced with country electricity mix)-powered vehicle. An energy dependency index was attributed to the best-case (100 % endogenous production) and worst-case (0 % endogenous production) scenarios and consequently weighted with vehicle fuel consumption. This enabled obtaining an energy dependency index (10–0). This index could be assigned to an environmental and social index to provide a sustainability index and therefore complement a road vehicle environmental rating system, providing a combined index rating. Internal combustion engine vehicles and hybrid vehicles (that have oil products as energy source) rate the lowest for almost all locations, with the exception of regions that are energy independent (Norway, Saudi Arabia or Russia). Electric vehicles rank higher when comparing to the other technologies analyzed for all locations in this study. The plug-in hybrid electric vehicle shows generally a rank in an intermediate place, except for Japan where it scores lower than all other technologies.

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Abbreviations

AU:

Australia

BR:

Brazil

BRICS:

Acronym for an association of five major emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa

CAFC:

Corporate average fuel consumption

CD:

Charge depleting

CH:

China

CO2 :

Carbon dioxide

DGEG:

Portuguese Energy and Geology Management Department (Direção Geral de Energia e Geologia)

CS:

Charge sustaining

ECE:

Urban driving cycles

EDI:

Energy dependency index

EDF:

Energy dependency factor

EPA:

United States Environmental Protection Agency

EU:

Europe

EUDC:

Extra urban driving cycle

EV:

Electric vehicle

FTP:

Federal Test Procedure

FCHEV:

Fuel cell hybrid vehicle

HEV:

Hybrid vehicle

ICCT:

International Council on Clean Transportation

ICEV:

Internal combustion engine vehicle

IN:

India

IUC:

Circulation tax in Portugal

ISV:

Vehicle acquisition tax in Portugal

JC08:

Japanese driving cycle for emissions testing

JP:

Japan

MTOE:

Million tonnes of oil equivalent

NEDC:

New European Driving Cycle

NW:

Norway

OECD:

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

OICA:

International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers

PHEV:

Plug-in hybrid vehicle

PT:

Portugal

RU:

Russia

S.AR:

Saudi Arabia

S.AF:

South Africa

TRIAD:

Designation of Europe, Japan and USA used due to their impact in world economy

USA:

United States

VAT:

Value-added tax

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Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) for the first author Phd financial support (SFRH / BD / 73416 / 2010), the Project “Assessment and development of integrated systems for electric vehicles” (MIT-Pt/EDAM SMS/0030/2008), for the last author FCT investigator development grant Program Investigator FCT IF/00181/2012 and, finally, to the strategic program LAETA-UID/EMS/50022/2013 and IDL-UID/GEO/50019/2013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IDMEC, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal

    Sara Marques & Luis Reis

  2. Centro Algoritmi, Department of Industrial Electronics, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800 058, Guimarães, Portugal

    João L. Afonso

  3. Instituto Dom Luiz, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    Carla Silva

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  1. Sara Marques
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  2. Luis Reis
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  3. João L. Afonso
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  4. Carla Silva
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Correspondence to Sara Marques.

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Marques, S., Reis, L., Afonso, J.L. et al. Energy rating methodology for light-duty vehicles: geographical impact. Environ Dev Sustain 18, 1501–1519 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9776-9

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