Life cycle assessment of a lithium-ion battery vehicle pack
Open accessAbstract
Summary: Electric vehicles (EVs) have no tailpipe emissions, but the production of their batteries leads to environmental burdens. In order to avoid problem shifting, a life cycle perspective should be applied in the environmental assessment of traction batteries. The aim of this study was to provide a transparent inventory for a lithium‐ion nickel‐cobalt‐manganese traction battery based on primary data and to report its cradle‐to‐gate impacts. The study was carried out as a process‐based attributional life cycle assessment. The environmental impacts were analyzed using midpoint indicators. The global warming potential of the 26.6 kilowatt‐hour (kWh), 253‐kilogram battery pack was found to be 4.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. Regardless of impact category, the production impacts of the battery were caused mainly by the production chains of battery cell manufacture, positive electrode paste, and negative current collector. The robustness of the study was tested through sensitivity analysis, and results were compared with preceding studies. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the most effective approach to reducing climate change emissions would be to produce the battery cells with electricity from a cleaner energy mix. On a per‐kWh basis, cradle‐to‐gate greenhouse gas emissions of the battery were within the range of those reported in preceding studies. Contribution and structural path analysis allowed for identification of the most impact‐intensive processes and value chains. This article provides an inventory based mainly on primary data, which can easily be adapted to subsequent EV studies, and offers an improved understanding of environmental burdens pertaining to lithium‐ion traction batteries.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Component processes are based on published literature data [17-20].
“The component processes are based on published literature data [17-20].”
From NRC light-duty vehicle life cycle assessment model (2024) · cites this paper as [18]
Processes for Li-Ion LFP, Li-Ion NMC, Li-Ion NCA and NiMH batteries are compiled based on multiple data sources [18,20,22].
“Processes for Li-Ion LFP, Li-Ion NMC, Li-Ion NCA and NiMH batteries are compiled based on multiple data sources [18,20,22].”
From NRC light-duty vehicle life cycle assessment model (2024) · cites this paper as [18]
Larger capacity EBs and HBs produce lower emissions than the equivalent total power level EVs.
“In addition, lithium costs required by EVs and EB's are inversely proportional in terms of emissions, therefore larger capacity EBs and HBs produce lower emissions than the equivalent total power level EV's (Ellingsen et al., 2014).”
From Electric and hydrogen buses: Shifting from conventionally fuelled cars in the UK (2020) · cites this paper as Ellingsen et al., 2014
Significantly higher CF values reported by Kallitsis et al. (2020) and Ellingsen et al. (2014), than the range of 46.3-106.1 kg CO2-eq kWh-1 reported here for South Korea, have been traced to the fact that they refer to pilot-scale facilities rather than Giga-scale factories considered herein, with the former resulting in almost three-times higher energy demand for cell manufacturing.
“Significantly higher CF values reported by Kallitsis et al. (2020) and Ellingsen et al. (2014), than the range of 46.3-106.1 kg CO 2 -eq kWh -1 reported here for South Korea, have been traced to the fact that they refer to pilot-scale facilities rather than Giga-scale factories considered herein, with the former resulting in almost three-times higher energy demand for cell manufacturing (Kallitsis”
From Think global act local: The dependency of global lithium-ion battery emissions on production location and material sources (2024) · cites this paper as Ellingsen et al., 2014
Cites
Comparative Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Conventional and Electric Vehicles
Hawkins, T. R., Singh, B., Majeau‐Bettez, G., & Strømman, A. H. (2013) · Journal of Industrial Ecology · doi:10.1111/j.1530-9290.2012.00532.x · Cited by 1,670 · see citing works
Self-citationOosterhaven, J., Rainer, N., ten Raa, T., Guilhoto, J. J. M., Jennings, J. G., Rueda-Cantuch, J. M., Dietzenbacher, E., Thage, B., Hubacek, K., Dietzenbacher, E., et al. (2009) · Economic Systems Research · doi:10.1080/09535310903561924 · Cited by 865 · see citing works
Grosjean, C., Miranda, P. H., Perrin, M., & Poggi, P. (2012) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2011.11.023 · Cited by 847 · see citing works
Contribution of Li-Ion Batteries to the Environmental Impact of Electric Vehicles
Notter, D. A., Gauch, M., Widmer, R., Wäger, P. A., Stamp, A., Zah, R., & Althaus, H. (2010) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es903729a · Cited by 842 · see citing works
Samaras, C., & Meisterling, K. (2008) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es702178s · Cited by 722 · see citing works
Majeau-Bettez, G., Hawkins, T. R., & Strømman, A. H. (2011) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es103607c · Cited by 662 · see citing works
Self-citationLife cycle assessment of lithium-ion batteries for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles–Critical issues
Zackrisson, M., Avellán, L., & Orlenius, J. (2010) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.06.004 · Cited by 551 · see citing works
Dunn, J. B., Gaines, L. L., Sullivan, J. L., & Wang, M. (2012) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es302420z · Cited by 457 · see citing works
Lithium ion battery production
Väyrynen, A., & Salminen, J. P. (2011) · The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics · doi:10.1016/j.jct.2011.09.005 · Cited by 446 · see citing works
Lithium Resources and Production: Critical Assessment and Global Projections
Mohr, S. H., Mudd, G. M., & Giurco, D. (2012) · Minerals · doi:10.3390/min2010065 · Cited by 357 · see citing works
Recycling rechargeable lithium ion batteries: Critical analysis of natural resource savings
Dewulf, J. P., der Vorst, G. V., Denturck, K., Langenhove, H. R. V., Ghyoot, W., Tytgat, J., & Vandeputte, K. (2009) · Resources Conservation and Recycling · doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2009.08.004 · Cited by 348 · see citing works
Energy analysis of batteries in photovoltaic systems. Part I: Performance and energy requirements
Rydh, C. J., & Sandén, B. A. (2004) · Energy Conversion and Management · doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2004.10.003 · Cited by 314 · see citing works
Ngala, J. K., Chernova, N. A., Ma, M., et al. (2004) · Journal of Materials Chemistry · doi:10.1039/b309834f · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Structural analysis of international trade: Environmental impacts of Norway
Peters, G. P., & Hertwich, E. G. (2006) · Economic Systems Research · doi:10.1080/09535310600653008 · Cited by 220 · see citing works
Lithium ion battery separators: Development and performance characterization of a composite membrane
Huang, X., & Hitt, J. (2012) · Journal of Membrane Science · doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2012.09.027 · Cited by 202 · see citing works
Wood, R. A., & Lenzen, M. (2008) · Energy Economics · doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2008.11.003 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), O. O. S. T. V. T. O. (., Dunn, J., Gaines, L. L., Barnes, M. H., Sullivan, J. L., & Wang, M. (2012) · doi:10.2172/1044525 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Tracing the fate of lithium––The development of a material flow model
Ziemann, S., Weil, M., & Schebek, L. (2012) · Resources Conservation and Recycling · doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2012.04.002 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Cameán, I., Lavela, P., Tirado, J. L., et al. (2009) · Fuel · doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2009.06.034 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Park, T.-H., Yeo, J.-S., Seo, M.-H., et al. (2013) · Electrochimica Acta · doi:10.1016/j.electacta.2012.12.124 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Energy Analysis of Batteries in Photovoltaic Systems
Rydh, C. J. (2003) · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Huang, Z., Liu, X., Zhang, B., et al. (2010) · Scripta Materialia · doi:10.1016/j.scriptamat.2010.09.018 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
National Service Center for Environmental Publications
Oarm, & Oa (2014) · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Wang, J., & Chen, T. (2012) · Rare Metals · doi:10.1007/s12598-012-0527-2 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Toward sustainable and systematic recycling of spent rechargeable batteries
Zhang, X., Li, L., Fan, E., Xue, Q., Bian, Y., Wu, F., & Chen, R. (2018) · Chemical Society Reviews · doi:10.1039/c8cs00297e · Cited by 1,038 · see citing works
Examining different recycling processes for lithium-ion batteries
Ciez, R. E., & Whitacre, J. F. (2019) · Nature Sustainability · doi:10.1038/s41893-019-0222-5 · Cited by 965 · see citing works
The environmental impact of Li-Ion batteries and the role of key parameters – A review
Peters, J. F., Baumann, M., Zimmermann, B., Braun, J., & Weil, M. (2017) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2016.08.039 · Cited by 856 · see citing works
Dunn, J. B., Gaines, L., Kelly, J. C., James, C., & Gallagher, K. G. (2015) · Energy & Environmental Science · doi:10.1039/c4ee03029j · Cited by 561 · see citing works
Life cycle analysis of lithium-ion batteries for automotive applications
Dai, Q., Kelly, J. C., Gaines, L., & Wang, M. (2019) · Batteries · doi:10.3390/batteries5020048 · Cited by 491 · see citing works
A cascaded life cycle: Reuse of electric vehicle lithium-ion battery packs in energy storage systems
Ahmadi, L., Young, S. B., Fowler, M., Fraser, R. A., & Achachlouei, M. A. (2017) · The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment · doi:10.1007/s11367-015-0959-7 · Cited by 421 · see citing works
The Size and Range Effect: Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Electric Vehicles
Ellingsen, L. A.-W., Singh, B., & Strømman, A. H. (2016) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/5/054010 · Cited by 363 · see citing works
Self-citationJerez, B., Garcés, I., & Torres, R. (2021) · Political Geography · doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102382 · Cited by 337 · see citing works
Kawamoto, R., Mochizuki, H., Moriguchi, Y., Nakano, T., Motohashi, M., Sakai, Y., & Inaba, A. (2019) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su11092690 · Cited by 321 · see citing works
Cradle-to-Gate Emissions from a Commercial Electric Vehicle Li-Ion Battery: A Comparative Analysis
Kim, H. C., Wallington, T. J., Arsenault, R., Bae, C., Ahn, S., & Lee, J. (2016) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b00830 · Cited by 312 · see citing works
Socio-Environmental Impacts of Lithium Mineral Extraction: Towards a Research Agenda
Agusdinata, D. B., Liu, W., Eakin, H., & Romero, H. (2018) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aae9b1 · Cited by 284 · see citing works
Ellingsen, L. A.-W., Hung, C. R., & Strømman, A. H. (2017) · Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment · doi:10.1016/j.trd.2017.06.028 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
Self-citationBerger, K., Schöggl, J.-P., & Baumgartner, R. J. (2022) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131492 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Environmental trade-offs across cascading lithium-ion battery life cycles
Richa, K., Babbitt, C. W., Nenadic, N. G., & Gaustad, G. (2017) · The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment · doi:10.1007/s11367-015-0942-3 · Cited by 186 · see citing works
Engels, P., Cerdas, F., Dettmer, T., Frey, C., Hentschel, J., Herrmann, C., Mirfabrikikar, T., & Schueler, M. (2022) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130474 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Environmental Life Cycle Implications of Upscaling Lithium-Ion Battery Production
Chordia, M., Nordelöf, A., & Ellingsen, L. A.-W. (2021) · The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment · doi:10.1007/s11367-021-01976-0 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Self-citationDegen, F., & Schütte, M. (2022) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129798 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Uncertain Environmental Footprint of Current and Future Battery Electric Vehicles
Cox, B., Mutel, C. L., Bauer, C., Mendoza Beltran, A., & van Vuuren, D. P. (2018) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.8b00261 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Cusenza, M. A., Guarino, F., Longo, S., Mistretta, M., & Cellura, M. (2019) · Energy and Buildings · doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.01.032 · Cited by 174 · see citing works
Dunn, J., Kendall, A., & Slattery, M. (2022) · Resources, Conservation and Recycling · doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106488 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Cusenza, M. A., Guarino, F., Longo, S., Ferraro, M., & Cellura, M. (2019) · Journal of Energy Storage · doi:10.1016/j.est.2019.100845 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Kallitsis, E., Korre, A., Kelsall, G., Kupfersberger, M., & Nie, Z. (2020) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120067 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Philippot, M., Alvarez, G., Ayerbe, E., Van Mierlo, J., & Messagie, M. (2019) · Batteries · doi:10.3390/batteries5010023 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Electric Vehicles in Poland and the Czech Republic
Burchart-Korol, D., Jursova, S., Folęga, P., Korol, J., Pustejovska, P., & Blaut, A. (2018) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.08.145 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Globally regional life cycle analysis of automotive lithium-ion nickel manganese cobalt batteries
Kelly, J. C., Dai, Q., & Wang, M. (2020) · Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change · doi:10.1007/s11027-019-09869-2 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Schmidt, T., Buchert, M., & Schebek, L. (2016) · Resources Conservation and Recycling · doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.04.017 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Electric and hydrogen buses: Shifting from conventionally fuelled cars in the UK
Logan, K. G., Nelson, J. D., & Hastings, A. (2020) · Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment · doi:10.1016/j.trd.2020.102350 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Towards more flexibility and transparency in life cycle inventories for Lithium-ion batteries
Crenna, E., Gauch, M., Widmer, R., Wäger, P., & Hischier, R. (2021) · Resources, Conservation and Recycling · doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105619 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Trends in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of future light duty electric vehicles
Ambrose, H., Kendall, A., Lozano, M., Wachche, S., & Fulton, L. (2020) · Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment · doi:10.1016/j.trd.2020.102287 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Assessment of social sustainability hotspots in the supply chain of lithium-ion batteries
Thies, C., Kieckhäfer, K., Spengler, T. S., & Sodhi, M. S. (2019) · Procedia CIRP · doi:10.1016/j.procir.2018.12.009 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Kallitsis, E., Lindsay, J. J., Chordia, M., Wu, B., Offer, G. J., & Edge, J. S. (2024) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141725 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Winjobi, O., Kelly, J. C., & Dai, Q. (2022) · Sustainable materials and technologies · doi:10.1016/j.susmat.2022.e00415 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Zheng, G., & Peng, Z. (2021) · Energy Reports · doi:10.1016/j.egyr.2021.02.039 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Jinasena, A., Burheim, O. S., & Strømman, A. H. (2021) · Batteries · doi:10.3390/batteries7010014 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Self-citationLife cycle modelling of extraction and processing of battery minerals—a parametric approach
Manjong, N. B., Usai, L., Burheim, O. S., & Strømman, A. H. (2021) · Batteries · doi:10.3390/batteries7030057 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Issue of Metal Resources in Li-Ion Batteries for Electric Vehicles
Weil, M., Ziemann, S., & Peters, J. (2018) · Green Energy and Technology · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-69950-9_3 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Life cycle sustainability assessment of potential battery systems for electric aircraft
Barke, A., Thies, C., Popien, J.-L., Melo, S. P., Cerdas, F., Herrmann, C., & Spengler, T. S. (2021) · Procedia CIRP · doi:10.1016/j.procir.2021.01.171 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Environmental and Life Cycle Assessment of Lithium Carbonate Production from Chilean Atacama Brines
He, Z., Korre, A., Kelsall, G., Nie, Z., & Colet Lagrille, M. (2025) · RSC Sustainability · doi:10.1039/d4su00223g · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Analysis of nickel sulphate datasets used in lithium-ion batteries
Ali, A.-R., Lackner, J., Cerdas, F., & Herrmann, C. (2023) · Procedia CIRP · doi:10.1016/j.procir.2023.02.059 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
NRC light-duty vehicle life cycle assessment model
Kannangara, M., Rabbitt, C., & Bensebaa, F. (2024) · National Research Council Canada · doi:10.4224/40003371
- Authors
- Ellingsen, L. A., Majeau‐Bettez, G., Singh, B., Srivastava, A. K., Valøen, L. O., & Strømman, A. H.
- Affiliations
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO)
- Tel-Tek (NO)
- Grenland Energy (Norway) (NO)
- Corresponding author
- Ellingsen, Linda Ager‐Wick
- Venue
- Journal of Industrial Ecology
- Published
- 2013-11
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 113-124
- ISSN
- 1088-1980 (ISSN-L)
- 1530-9290
- OpenAlex
- W2095941459
- Cited by
- 665
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 53 · 2025: 56 · 2024: 60 · 2023: 69 · 2022: 84 · 2021: 95 · 2020: 67 · 2019: 67 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 7
- FWCI
- 11.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Industrial Ecology (publishedVersion)
- BIBSYS Brage (BIBSYS (Norway)) (acceptedVersion)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- PolyPublie (École Polytechnique de Montréal) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Extraction and Separation Processes
- Keywords
- lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicle battery packs, cradle-to-gate emissions, global warming potential, greenhouse gas emissions, battery cell manufacturing, energy mix, attributional life cycle assessment
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
