Research on the whole life cycle energy consumption and pollution emission of new energy vehicles and traditional fuel vehicles based on the perspective of single vehicle currency of the same vehicle model

School of mathematics and statistics, Chongqing University, Chongqing College Town, Shapingba District, Chongqing, China

^* 1780921441@qq.com; phone 86 13858586716

Abstract

To construct an evaluation framework based on whole-life energy consumption and pollution emissions, the control variable method is used when selecting vehicles for comparison. By assessing a new energy vehicle (the Audi Q2L e-tron) and a traditional fuel vehicle (the Audi Q2L) of the same model, differences in emission and energy consumption are solely attributed to power forms. Results are monetized to facilitate analysis of the societal benefits of new energy vehicles, reflecting environmental impact in monetary terms. The results of the paper show that although the replacement of traditional fuel vehicles by new energy vehicles can achieve carbon emission reduction and considerable energy savings in the energy cycle, due to the fact that new energy vehicles produce more sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) in the production phase, the full replacement of traditional fuel vehicles by electric vehicles at this stage will not be able to achieve an improvement in the overall welfare of the society. Therefore, under the current conditions, the improvement of new energy vehicles should start with finding cleaner and more environmentally friendly ways in the manufacturing stage of automobiles, as well as modifying the way of producing electricity.