Research and Comparison of Carbon Emissions Throughout the Life Cycle of Electric Vehicles and Fuel Vehicles in the Chinese Market

Accelerated tightening of global carbon-emission regulations and China's commitment to its "dual-carbon" goals are making the transportation sector a very critical domain for decarbonization: peaking carbon emissions around 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. This study investigates full-life-cycle carbon emissions of BEVs and ICEVs in China, adopting an LCA approach that considers raw material extraction, manufacturing, vehicle use, maintenance, and end-of-life recycling. The results suggest that although BEVs generate higher emissions during their manufacturing stage, mainly due to battery production, BEVs tend to have generally lower overall life-cycle carbon emissions compared with their counterpart ICEVs under China's current electricity generation mix and battery recycling systems. Sensitivity analyses also show that increased grid decarbonization, better recovery rates of batteries, and extending the life of the vehicles further enhance the relative advantage of BEVs. The findings provide theoretical and empirical support for China's automotive industry in its transition to low-carbon development and should be referred to in policymaking within the decarbonization of the transport sector.