Norway’s electric vehicle revolution: unveiling greenhouse gas emissions reductions and material use of passenger cars across space and time
Electric vehicles (EVs) are a key strategy for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from personal mobility. Norway’s strong EV supporting policies has led to an explosion of EVs and reduced direct emissions, but with rural-urban differences and undocumented upstream impacts. We investigated how...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ade8fe |
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| author | Lola S A Rousseau Jan Sandstad Næss Marine Lhuillier Romain G Billy Peter Schön Edgar G Hertwich |
| author_facet | Lola S A Rousseau Jan Sandstad Næss Marine Lhuillier Romain G Billy Peter Schön Edgar G Hertwich |
| author_sort | Lola S A Rousseau |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Electric vehicles (EVs) are a key strategy for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from personal mobility. Norway’s strong EV supporting policies has led to an explosion of EVs and reduced direct emissions, but with rural-urban differences and undocumented upstream impacts. We investigated how the material composition and life cycle GHG emissions of Norwegian vehicles have evolved between 2000 and 2023 by integrating spatiotemporal vehicle data with a vehicle life cycle assessment model. The average life cycle GHG emissions per vehicle-km (vkm) of a newly registered car have significantly decreased (−49% since 2000) thanks to the decrease in use phase emissions (−89% since 2000). However, component-related emissions have increased (+81% since 2000) due to electrification and a trend towards large vehicles. Changes in the fleet are slow: EVs constituted 24% of the stock in 2023 and average life cycle GHG emissions per vkm have barely declined (−8% since 2000). EVs are concentrated in urban and peri-urban areas, while remote areas have few EVs, illustrating the unequal spatial distribution of electric mobility. Our study highlights the challenges related to EV penetration and emphasizes the need to expand to additional indicators beyond direct GHG emissions for a comprehensive understanding of EVs’ role in climate change mitigation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c7c97c3111d64406a3679ddf54e95b98 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-c7c97c3111d64406a3679ddf54e95b982025-08-20T03:50:17ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262025-01-0120808405310.1088/1748-9326/ade8feNorway’s electric vehicle revolution: unveiling greenhouse gas emissions reductions and material use of passenger cars across space and timeLola S A Rousseau0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2829-5376Jan Sandstad Næss1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3166-913XMarine Lhuillier2https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4355-9420Romain G Billy3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4693-2722Peter Schön4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7254-8479Edgar G Hertwich5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4934-3421Industrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , 7034 Trondheim, NorwayIndustrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , 7034 Trondheim, Norway; Department of Architecture and Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , 7491 Trondheim, NorwayIndustrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , 7034 Trondheim, Norway; Department of Architecture and Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , 7491 Trondheim, Norway; École nationale des travaux publics de l’État (ENTPE) , 69518 Vaulx-en-Velin cedex, FranceIndustrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , 7034 Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Architecture and Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , 7491 Trondheim, NorwayIndustrial Ecology Programme, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , 7034 Trondheim, Norway; Energy, Climate, and Environment Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) , Laxenburg, AustriaElectric vehicles (EVs) are a key strategy for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from personal mobility. Norway’s strong EV supporting policies has led to an explosion of EVs and reduced direct emissions, but with rural-urban differences and undocumented upstream impacts. We investigated how the material composition and life cycle GHG emissions of Norwegian vehicles have evolved between 2000 and 2023 by integrating spatiotemporal vehicle data with a vehicle life cycle assessment model. The average life cycle GHG emissions per vehicle-km (vkm) of a newly registered car have significantly decreased (−49% since 2000) thanks to the decrease in use phase emissions (−89% since 2000). However, component-related emissions have increased (+81% since 2000) due to electrification and a trend towards large vehicles. Changes in the fleet are slow: EVs constituted 24% of the stock in 2023 and average life cycle GHG emissions per vkm have barely declined (−8% since 2000). EVs are concentrated in urban and peri-urban areas, while remote areas have few EVs, illustrating the unequal spatial distribution of electric mobility. Our study highlights the challenges related to EV penetration and emphasizes the need to expand to additional indicators beyond direct GHG emissions for a comprehensive understanding of EVs’ role in climate change mitigation.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ade8feelectric mobilitylife cycle emissionsurban areasspatial analysis |
| spellingShingle | Lola S A Rousseau Jan Sandstad Næss Marine Lhuillier Romain G Billy Peter Schön Edgar G Hertwich Norway’s electric vehicle revolution: unveiling greenhouse gas emissions reductions and material use of passenger cars across space and time Environmental Research Letters electric mobility life cycle emissions urban areas spatial analysis |
| title | Norway’s electric vehicle revolution: unveiling greenhouse gas emissions reductions and material use of passenger cars across space and time |
| title_full | Norway’s electric vehicle revolution: unveiling greenhouse gas emissions reductions and material use of passenger cars across space and time |
| title_fullStr | Norway’s electric vehicle revolution: unveiling greenhouse gas emissions reductions and material use of passenger cars across space and time |
| title_full_unstemmed | Norway’s electric vehicle revolution: unveiling greenhouse gas emissions reductions and material use of passenger cars across space and time |
| title_short | Norway’s electric vehicle revolution: unveiling greenhouse gas emissions reductions and material use of passenger cars across space and time |
| title_sort | norway s electric vehicle revolution unveiling greenhouse gas emissions reductions and material use of passenger cars across space and time |
| topic | electric mobility life cycle emissions urban areas spatial analysis |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ade8fe |
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