Life Cycle Assessment of Lightweight Electric Motorbikes : Case Study - RIDECAKE

Sammanfattning: The electric vehicle segments of companies have broadened, and their sales have increased in the past decade. The electric motorcycle sector is growing fast, with improved technology on electric powertrains, increased ranges, charging speeds, and infrastructure. Parallel to the increased sales, the electric battery sector is advancing rapidly, thereby lowering the environmental impacts of these vehicles. The competitive adventure sports sector also benefits from using electric powertrains with their incredible power-to-weight ratio and instant torque. The benefits of using electric vehicles over conventional ones can be seen during the use phase, with zero tailpipe emissions and clean, silent riding.   However, with the expansion of the electric motorcycle sector rolling out new technologies and models, there are uncertainties about whether the overall lifecycle has reduced impacts on the environment. Finding and improving the most sustainable model(s) or solution(s) implies scrutinizing the effects of these motorcycles on the environment, which is the goal of CAKE 0 Emission AB, a Swedish lightweight electric motorbike manufacturer.   The current project will assess the potential environmental impacts of Kalk&, an off-road electric motorcycle model certified for on-road use, designed, and manufactured by CAKE 0 Emission AB. For this purpose, Attributional Life Cycle Assessment was chosen as the method to study the impact of one whole motorbike over a lifetime of 500 battery charging cycles, used by a hypothetical example user in Stockholm, Sweden. The potential environmental impacts are focused on 12 categories using the ReCiPe Midpoint (H) method.   As expected from an electric vehicle, the results show that the impacts mainly stem from the manufacturing phase of the motorbike. The hotspots in the manufacturing phase arise from producing the battery, the electric motor, and the electrical components like lights, the charger, and cables. The materials used for construction that have a high share of impact are Copper and Aluminium. Another environmental hotspot is the casting manufacturing process. Within the vehicle use phase, the impact of using solar energy in Sweden for charging the batteries is not immediately intuitive and has shown to be higher than the Swedish electricity board mix; the results argue that the choice of electricity is vital in reducing emissions. Transporting the vehicle overseas by ship instead of by flight decreases emissions by about 82% to 97% within the various impact categories.   A sensitivity scenario was created for a hypothetical user in Barcelona, Spain, to better understand the influence of the selected lifetime and user behavior on the impacts. The results indicate that using an additional battery and thereby increasing the lifetime of the vehicle shows a 34% decrease in emissions per km driven within the lifetime of the motorcycle. Lastly, it is recommended whenever possible to source the numerous components of the vehicle closer to the assembly unit to reduce the transportation impacts incurred from transoceanic freight.