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Figure1. Telsa Model S (kbb.com, 2014) |
Figure 2. Nissan LEAF (nissanusa.com, 2014) |
Introduction:
In recent years the automotive companies have been trying to innovate their lineup of cars and move from gasoline to electric motors. I will be conducting a life cycle analysis on two well-known fully electric vehicles, the Nissan LEAF and the Tesla Model S. The two companies have been trying to create electric automobiles that would be favored over the traditional combustible engine. They both have the same ideas but their products contrast in build and effectiveness. I will be assessing which one of the two causes the most CO2 pollution throughout its material’s extraction, manufacturing and consumer usage.
Tesla Motors Model S:
Tesla is a newer car company, merely created in 2003, but is paving the way to the future. Its first model was built in 2008 (About Telsa). Telsa are creating a huge impact in the automotive market for being such a young company. Tesla has created a few models before the Model S but its battery engine is still produced the same way. Its lithium battery packs come from Panasonic CO. in Japan. Panasonic has a contract with Telsa to supply them with the batteries they need in order to produce consumer demand. Panasonic uses a mining company called Sumitomo Metal Mining that mines in Bolivia. The material is then sent from Bolivia to Japan to be used for batteries (Loveday). After the batteries are created Panasonic then sends its supply to California for Tesla to put them inside their motors. Currently, Telsa distributes their cars to America and Europe. Tesla states that their car will last well over eight years for unlimited miles. After the car is no longer usable just like the LEAF, it will be either put in a scrap yard or scrapped for spare parts.
Nissan LEAF:
Nissan is one of the top three Japanese’s motor companies and has a very well established company. They released their all electric vehicle, the LEAF, in December 2010. The car is still on the market today with over 100,000 cars sold worldwide since the beginning of 2014 (Ayre). Nissan begins to make its car battery by extracting its lithium from the neighboring country of China. Once the lithium is mined and purified it is then sent to an offsite company called, Automotive Energy Supply Company, to make the battery packs to be used in the car. The battery is then shipped to the headquarters in Japan. (By 2015 Nissan will be opening a facility in Tennessee to build the LEAF as well as other Nissan models (O’Toole).) The car is then built in the facility and wrapped up in plastic to protect the paint and exterior and is shipped across the world to dealerships. The battery is estimated to last up to ten years before it starts to lose more than 20% of its discharge capacity. After the car is unwanted its components and framework will either end up in a metal scrap yard and/or reused as spare parts.
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Tesla Model S Life Cycle Analysis Flow Chart |
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Nissan LEAF Life Cycle Analysis Flow Chart |
Calculations:
Tesla
According to Tesla, their Model S vehicle has an 85 kWh battery with a range of 265 miles with a full charge. Telsa placed an 8 year unlimited mile warranty on their battery. Due to the mileage warranty being unlimited, assume the warranty ends at 100,000 miles and that the battery is ran dead before each charge. The battery will need to be charged every 3.5 days. Assume the vehicle is charged every night (when needed) up until the warranty’s 100,000 miles limit is met. This means 381 charges is the limit until the mileage passes the assumed warranty. Given the data PG&E provided on about emission in 2013, it is estimated they produce 412 lbs. / MWh (Greenhouse Gas Emission Factors).
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Nissan
According to Nissan USA, the Nissan LEAF’s battery is a 24kWh lithium battery with a 75mile range with a full charge. Nissan has given the battery an 8 year, 100,000 mile warranty. Assume the vehicle will stop working exactly after the warranty is met and that the battery is ran dead before each charge. That means 1,333 charges is the limit until the mileage passes warranty. Given the data PG&E provided on its emission in 2013, it is estimated they produce 412 lbs. / MWh (Greenhouse Gas Emission Factors).
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Recommendation:
From the qualitatively analysis it is observed that the Nissan LEAF produces 1% less pounds of carbon dioxide in its lifetime (100,000 miles). Nissan also obtains its lithium from a closer source as compared to Telsa. Once the battery is assembled on site for Nissan it is then sent to their headquarters for shipment. Tesla on the other hand needs to ship the lithium over the pacific to be assembled in the Panasonic factory. From there it is then shipped to the USA. Qualitatively adding up the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from transportation, the Nissan LEAF is more environmentally friendly.
Work Cited
Ayre, J. (2014, January 2). 100,000 Nissan LEAFs Sold Worldwide To Date. In Clean Technica. Retrieved December 2, 2014. http://cleantechnica.com/2014/01/22/100000-nissan-leafs-sold-worldwide-date/
Greenhouse Gas Emission Factors: Guidance for PG&E Customers (2013, April). In Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Retrieved December 3, 2014.http://www.pge.com/includes/docs/pdfs/shared/environment/calculator/pge_ghg_emission_factor_info_sheet.pdf
Loveday, E. (2013). Sumitomo Metal Mining to Boost Production Capacity of Lithium Nickel Oxide to Meet Tesla Model S Demand. In Inside EVs. Retrieved December 2, 2014. http://insideevs.com/sumitomo-metal-mining-to-boost-production-capacity-of-lithium-nickel-oxide-to-meet-tesla-model-s-demand/
O'Toole, J. (2013, January 9). Nissan Leaf to be manufactured in U.S. In CNN Money. Retrieved December 2, 2014. http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/09/autos/nissan-leaf-america/
About Telsa (n.d.). In Tesla. Retrieved December 2, 2014. http://www.teslamotors.com/about