U.S. National Science Foundation
We Can Figure This Out.org
Resources: Green(er) Cars and Trucks
University of Virginia
  > WCFTO Home > Energy Home > Web Notes > Energy Consumption > Resources: Greener Cars and Trucks  
         
  Corresponding Web Notes: Greener Cars and Trucks (pptx / pdf / key)


NOTE:
CITED U.S. GOVERNMENT SOURCES MAY NOW HAVE DISAPPEARED DUE TO THE FOLLOWING
(but my cached copies remain online)

"On December 1, 2025, the US Department of Energy changed the laboratory's name from "National Renewable Energy Laboratory" to "National Laboratory of the Rockies", stating that the new name "reflects laboratory’s expanding mission under the Trump Administration"

National Laboratory of the Rockies, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

"Disappearing Data: Trump Administration Removing Climate Information from Government Websites"

National Security Archive, George Washington University, February 2025 (link / cached copy)



Introduction:

Energy Spent Moving ALL Cars and Trucks:

See my preceding note set: Energy Consumption in Transportation (pptx / pdf / key)

World Energy Balances - Overview - 2020, International Energy Agency (IEA) (link / cached copy)

Key World Energy Statistics - 2019, International Energy Agency (IEA) (link / cached copy)

World Energy Consumption, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Electricity Information - Overview - 2020, International Energy Agency (IEA) (link / cached copy)

Energy Spent Moving ONE Car or Truck:

Theory:

Cars II in Sustainable Energy without the Hot Air, David J.C. MacKay, UIT

Author's website offering free multi-language chapter viewing & downloads (link)

Technical chapter: Cars II (link)

Discussion in my note set: Energy Consumption in Transportation (pptx / pdf / key)

Real Life:

Electric Vehicles 101, Prof. Dan Lauber, MIT, 2009 (link / cached PowerPoint copy / cached Keynote conversion)

All Electric Vehicles, FuelEconomy.gov (U.S. DOE & EPA) (link / cached copy)

 


GREENer CARS AND TRUCKS:

Overviews of Evolving Fuel Efficiency Standards & Technologies:

Standards:

A Brief History of U.S. Fuel Efficiency Standards: Where we are and where are we going? Union of Concerned Scientists (link / cached copy)

Obama Administration Finalizes Historic 54.5 MPG Fuel Efficiency Standards, White House, Office of the Press Secretary, 2012 (link / cached copy

Technologies:

How Will Carmakers Adapt to Mileage Standards? U.S. National Public Radio (link / cached copy

How Automakers Can Meet New Fuel Efficiency Standards, Scientific American, 2010 (link / cached copy

Why Automakers Keep Beating Government Standards, Scientific American, 2016 (link / cached copy

2019 Automotive Trends Report, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (link / cached copy)

Cost Effectiveness and Deployment of Fuel Economy Technologies for Light Duty Vehicles, U.S. National Academies, 2015 (link / cached copy)

Improving Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs):

Differences between basic Diesel & gasoline Spark Ignition ICEs?

Exceptionally clear explanation + meaningful comparison of diesel vs. spark ignition:

Diesel Engines, ExplainThatStuff.com (link / cached copy)

Other sources (some tending to be long on history / short on explanation):

Internal Combustion Engine (diesel & spark), Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Diesel Engine, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Petrol Engine (spark ignited gasoline), Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

What is the difference between OHV, OHC, SOHC and DOHC engines?  Samarins.com (link / cached copy)

Volkswagen Emission Scandal (a.k.a. "Dieselgate"), Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

SMMT Puts Record Straight on Diesel Cars with New Nationwide Consumer Campaign, SMMT.co.uk, 2015 (link / cached copy

Gasoline vs. Diesel - Comparing CO2 Emissions of a Modern Medium Size Car Model under Laboratory and On-Road Testing Conditions, International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), 2019 (link / cached copy)

Diesel and Gasoline Engine Exhausts . . . , U.S. National Institutes of Health:

Text: Diesel and Gasoline Engine Exhausts & Some Nitroarenes (link / cached copy)

Table III: Levels of Emissions from Various Diesel & Gasoline Engines (link / cached copy)

Table III abstracted: Deleting footnoting & links, showing only head-to-head comparison of light duty trucks vs. catalyst-equipped cars (link to my Excel spreadsheet)

Air Quality in Europe - 2016 Report, European Environmental Agency (link / cached copy)

Improving gasoline SI-ICE's fuel-air mixture creation and distribution:

How Does a Carburetor Work, Revzilla.com (link / cached copy)

How a Fuel Injection System Works, HowaCarWorks.com (link / cached copy)

Fuel Injection, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

What Are The Different Types of Fuel Injection?  Cars.com, 2016 (link / cached copy)

What is GDI / FSI / CGI / SIDI / Direct Injection? AutoPortal.com, 2016 (link / cached copy)

EFi vs. MPFi vs. GDi: How Electronic Fuel Injection Technology Works?  CarBikeTech.com (link / cached copy)

Fuel Stratified Ignition (FSI), Autopedia, automobile.fandom.com (link / cached copy)

Mercedes Benz Charged Gasoline Injection (CGI), Paultan.org (link / cached copy)

Improving gasoline SI-ICE's timing of fuel-air injection, spark, exhaust release:

Ignition Timing:

Ignition System, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Ignition Timing, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Engine Control Unit, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Ignition Timing For Optimum Engine Performance - CarBikeTech.com (link / cached copy)

Understanding Ignition Timing - Making Maximum Power Means Knowing the Science - Engine Builder Magazine (link / cached copy

Valve Timing:

Variable Valve Timing, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Camless Piston Engine, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

The Story Behind the Development of Variable Valve Timing, Aisin.com (link / cached copy)

YouTube video of Aisin's Variable Valve Timing technology (link)

"VTEC" Variable Valve Timing for Power and Fuel Economy, Honda.com (link / cached copy

What is the Cargine Free Valve System? Cargine / FreeValve.com (cached copy)

Improving SMALLER gasoline ICE's by adding turbocharger + intercooler:

Turbocharger (and intercooler), Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Intercooler, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Ford's version w/ turbocharger, intercooler, variable valve timing & direct fuel injection:

Ford Ecoboost Engine, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Ecoboost, Ford.com (link / cached copy)

When to Upgrade Your EcoBoost F-150’s Intercooler (only source confirming Ecoboost's use of an intercooler) (link / cached copy

A telling consequence of U.S. SI-ICE improvements:

America’s Best-Selling Cars and Trucks are Built on Lies: The Rise of Fake Engine Noise, Washington Post 2015 (link / cached copy

Using gasoline SI-ICEs More Effectively:

ICE Power Bands:

Power Band (engine/motor torque & power curves), Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Here’s Why Electric Cars Have Plenty of Grunt, Oomph and Torque, TheConversation.com, 2019 (link / cached copy

ICE Transmissions:

Transmission (Mechanics), Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Advanced Transmission Technologies, FuelEconomy.gov (U.S. Department of Energy / Environmental Protection Agency) (link / cached copy)

Dual Clutch Automatic Transmissions:

What's a Dual Clutch Transmission and How Does it Work? MatFoundryGroup.com (link / cached copy)

What Is a Dual-Clutch Transmission (and Is It Better?), CarFax.com (link / cached copy)  

How Dual-Clutch Transmissions Work, FastGroup.com (link / cached copy)

Continuously Variable Transmissions (CVTs):

Continuously Variable Transmission (CVTs), Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

How CVTs Work, Auto.HowStuffWorks.com (link / cached copy)

Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs):

Hybrid Vehicle, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Wikiwand (link / cached copy)

Hybrid Vehicle Drivetrain, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Hybrid Vehicle Drivetrain, Wikiwand (link / cached copy)

Well-to-Wheels Analysis of Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of PHEVs, Elgowainy et al., U.S. Argonne National Laboratory, 2010 (link / cached copy

Transitions to Alternative Transportation Technologies - Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles, U.S. National Academies 2010 (link / cached copy)

The Miles per Gallon Gap, Consumer Reports, 2013 (link / cached copy)

Renewed allegations that PHEV GHG emissions are vastly underestimated:

Recent press articles (both, I believe, misidentifying the true data source):

Plug-in Hybrids are a 'Wolf in Sheep's Clothing,' BBC.com, September 2020 (link / cached copy)

Plug-in Hybrids Called a ‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’ as Study Claims Emissions are Higher than Thought, CNBC.com, September 2020 (link / cached copy

Secondary sources misidentified above as the primary source:

The Plug-in Hybrid Con, TransportEnvironment.org, September 2020 (link / cached copy)

Fraunhofer ISI/ICCT Analysis of PHEV Data Finds Real-World CO2 Emissions 2-4x Higher than Official Values, GreenCarCongress.com, September 2020 (link / cached copy)

What I believe to be the true primary data source:

Real-World Usage of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles - Fuel Consumption, Electric Driving and CO2 Emissions, Fraunhofer ISI Institute & International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), September 2020 (link / cached copy)

Storing a Vehicle's CURRENT Kinetic Energy for LATER Motion:

Overviews (broad and/or historic overviews, but providing limited technological insight):

Regenerative Brake, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Kinetic Energy Recovery System, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

How Regenerative Braking Works, HowStuffWorks.com (link / cached copy)

Shifting kinetic energy from vehicle to flywheels: "Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems"

Development of KERS in Formula I Hybrid Electric racing cars:

Formula One Cars to Use Hybrid-style Electric-only Mode in the Pits, CNET.com, April 2011 (link / cached copy

Turbocharging and Advanced Hybrid Tech coming to Formula 1 for 2014, NewAtlas.com, January 2014 (link / cached copy

Formula One’s New-Age Hybrids Find Their Footing, New York Times, 11 April 2014 (link / cached copy)

Formula 1 Cars (are) More Hybrid than Hybrids from Today, Electronics Weekly, January 2014 (link / cached copy

Transfer of KERS technology to road cars and buses:

KERS of the Hybrid Car: Flywheels and Ultracapacitors Give You a 10-Second Jolt, ExtremeTech.com, August 2011 (link / cached copy

KERS Comes to Cars as Jaguar Tests Flywheel Hybrid, Wired Magazine, October 2010 (link / cached copy

Volvo Announces KERS Hybrid SUV with CO2 Emissions of only 60g/km! BRACE Automotive, 2014 (link / cached copy)

Formula 1 Tech Transferred To Mercedes-Benz Hybrids, HybridCars.com, July 2014 (link / cached copy

F1 Tech Is About to Make Buses Way More Efficient, WIred Magazine, July 2014 (link / cached copy)

Converting kinetic energy to electrical energy: "Regenerative Braking"

Brake Energy Regeneration System, Mazda.com (link / cached copy)

Necessary power conversion functions:

Controlled Regenerative Braking using Real Time Speed Sensing, RoboTeq.com (link / cached copy)

How Can I Implement Regenerative Braking of a DC Motor?  Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange (link / cached copy)

Possible electrical circuits:

Active Control of Regenerative Brake for Electric Vehicles, Lin et al., Actuators 7, p. 84 (2018) (link / cached copy

Power Converter Circuits for Recuperation of the Regenerative Braking Energy in Rail Vehicles, Zupan et al., 2019 Int. Convention on Information & Communications Technology, Electronics & Microelectronics (link / cached copy

 


GREEN CARS & TRUCKS:

Plug-in Electric Vehicle Basics:

Alternative Fuels Data Center, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) (link / cached copy)

U.S. Plug-in Electric Vehicle Sales by Model (link / cached copy)

Tesla Model 3, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Non-Green Grid + Plug-in Electric Vehicles: When & where will it make GHG sense:

Technical & Popular Press:

How Green is My Plug-in?, J. Voelcker, IEEE Spectrum (2009), Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (link / cached copy)

Unclean at Any Speed: Electric Cars Donʼt Solve the Automobileʼs Environmental Problems, IEEE Spectrum (2013), Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (link / cached copy)

How Environmentally Friendly are Electric Cars?  BBC News 2013 (link / cached copy)

Electric Cars are not Necessarily Green, Scientific American 2016 (link / cached copy)

Well-to-Wheel & Lifecycle Analysis of Energy Transfer & Greenhouse Gas Emission:

Tutorials (from blogger w/ no declared affiliation + websites w/ vested interests):

Wells to Wheels: Electric Car Efficiency, Maury Markowitz (link / cached copy)

Well to Wheels, California Fuel Cell Partnership, 2016 (link / cached copy)

Well-to-Wheel - How to Better Understand It, gMobility.eu (part of the Natural & Bio Gas Vehicle Association - Europe) (link / cached copy

Analyses:

Emissions Associated with Electric Vehicle Charging: Impact of Electricity Generation Mix, Charging Infrastructure Availability, and Vehicle Type, National Renewable Energy Lab 2016 (link / cached copy

A New Comparison Between the Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Battery Electric Vehicles and Internal Combustion Vehicles, Ma et al., Energy Policy 44, pp. 160-73 (2012) (link / cached copy)

Cleaner Cars from Cradle to Grave - How Electric Cars Beat Gasoline Cars on Lifetime Global Warming Emissions, Union of Concerned Scientists, 2015 (link /cached copy)

Effect of Regional Grid Mix, Driving Patterns and Climate on the Comparative Carbon Footprint of Gasoline and Plug-in Electric Vehicles in the United States, Environ. Res. Lett. 11 044007 (2016) (link / cached copy)

Net Emission Reductions from Electric Cars and Heat Pumps in 59 World Regions Over Time, Knobloch et al., Nature Sustainability, March 2020 (link / cached copy

Press report about preceding study: Electric Cars Better for Climate in 95% of the World, ScienceDaily.com, March 2020 (link / cached copy)

Plug-to-Wheel Energy Balance - Results of a Two Years Experience Behind the Wheel of Electric Vehicles, Vroey  et al., World Electric Vehicle Journal 6, pp. 130-134 (2013) / Proceedings of the Electric Vehicle Symposium 27, Barcelona, Spain, (link / cached copy)

Well-to-Wheels Analysis of Future Automotive Fuels and Powertrains in the European Context, European Union Joint Research Council, 2014 (link to website)

Main Report (link / cached copy)

Appendix I - Summary of WTW Energy and GHG balances (link / cached copy)

Appendix II - Reference List (link / cached copy)

Environmental Effects of Battery Electric and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles, U.S. Congressional Research Service 2020 (link / cached copy)

The Miles per Gallon Gap, Consumer Reports, 2013 (link / cached copy)

Renewed allegations that PHEV GHG emissions are vastly underestimated:

Recent press articles (both, I believe, misidentifying the true data source):

Plug-in Hybrids are a 'Wolf in Sheep's Clothing,' BBC.com, September 2020 (link / cached copy)

Plug-in Hybrids Called a ‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’ as Study Claims Emissions are Higher than Thought, CNBC.com, September 2020 (link / cached copy

Secondary sources misidentified above as the primary source:

The Plug-in Hybrid Con, TransportEnvironment.org, September 2020 (link / cached copy)

Fraunhofer ISI/ICCT Analysis of PHEV Data Finds Real-World CO2 Emissions 2-4x Higher than Official Values, GreenCarCongress.com, September 2020 (link / cached copy)

What I believe to be the true primary data source:

Real-World Usage of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles - Fuel Consumption, Electric Driving and CO2 Emissions, Fraunhofer ISI Institute & International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), September 2020 (link / cached copy)

Growing a future Green Grid:

Candidate low-GHG power plant technologies are detailed in note sets listed & outlined

on the WeCanFigureThisOut.org Energy Homepage

Grid power transmission is discussed in the note sets:

Generic Power Plant & Grid (pptx / pdf / key)

A Renewable Distributed Grid (pptx / pdf / key)

Grid energy storage is discussed in the note set:  

Power Cycles and Energy Storage (pptx / pdf / key)

Green Grid + Plug-in Electric Vehicles:

Individual PEV Charging Stations:

Tesla Supercharger, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Power Flow Regulation and Building Codes Review by the AVTA, Adrene Briones, James Francfort, Paul Heitmann, Michael Schey, Steven Schey and John Smart, Idaho National Laboratory, 2012 (link / cached copy)

Electrification of Transportation and the Impacts on the Electric Grid, Tom King, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2011 (link / cached copy)

Battery University 103 - Electric Vehicle(s), BatteryUniversity.com (link / cached copy)

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Review, Kevin Morrow, Donald Karner and James Francfort, Idaho National Laboratory, 2008 (link / cached copy)

Overall PEV Charging Infrastructure:

Electric Vehicle Grid Integration in the US Europe and China - International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), 2013 (link / cached copy)

Overcoming Barriers to Deployment of Plug-in Electric Vehicles, U.S. National Academies, 2015 (link / cached copy

Integrating Electric Vehicles within U.S. and European Efficiency Regulations, International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), 2017 (link / cached copy)

Global EV Outlook 2020 - Entering the Decade of Electric Drive? International Energy Agency ( IEA), 2020 (link / cached copy)

More narrowly focused reports:

Electric Vehicles and the Electric Grid: A Review of Modeling Approaches, Impacts, and Renewable Energy Integration, D.B. Richardson, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews 19, pp. 247-54, 2013)(link / cached copy

Austin, Utilities Launch Campaign for Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles, American Public Power Association, Public Power Daily, 25 January 2006 (link / cached copy)

Evaluating Electric Vehicle Charging Impacts and Customer Charging Behaviors - Experiences from Six Smart Grid Investment Grants, U.S. Department of Energy, 2009 (link / cached copy)

An Evaluation of Utility System Impacts and Benefits of Optimally Dispatched Plug-in hybrid Vehicles National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2006 (link / cached copy)

Vehicle to Grid (V2G):

Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Power Flow Regulation and Building Codes Review by the AVTA, Adrene Briones, James Francfort, Paul Heitmann, Michael Schey, Steven Schey and John Smart, Idaho National Laboratory, 2012 (link / cached copy)

Electric & Hybrid Cars - New Load or New Resource? Steven Letendre, Paul Denholm and Peter Lilienthal, Public Utility Fortnightly, December 2006 (link / cached copy)

Green Grid + Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles:

Hydrogen Fuel Cells - Reversible (for Grid energy storage) vs. non-reversible (for vehicles):

Electrolysis of Water / Hydrogen Fuel Cell, HyperPhysics, Georgia State University (link / cached copy)

Fuel Cell, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Types of Fuel Cells, Energy.gov (link / cached copy)

Regenerative (reversible) Fuel Cell, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

What are Regenerative Fuel Cells? AltEnergy.org (link / cached copy)

Design and Analysis of Reversible Solid Oxide Cells For Electrical Energy Storage, Advanced Energy Systems Group, Colorado School of Mines - and references therein (link / cached copy

Reversible Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Technology for Green Fuel and Power Production, Mihn et al., Interface (Electrochemical Society)  2013 (link / cached copy)

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles - Including the fact that Fuel Cell Vehicles require batteries:

Fuel Cell Vehicle, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles, Alternative Fuels Data Center, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) (link / cached copy)

How Do Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles Work Using Hydrogen, Alternative Fuels Data Center, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)  (link / cached copy)

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles; Current Status and Future Prospect - Review, Manoharan et al., Applied Sciences 9, p.2296 (2019) (link / cached copy

High-GHG vs. Zero-GHG Hydrogen - Steam Reforming vs. Water Electrolysis:

Hydrogen Production, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Hydrogen Production and Distribution, International Energy Agency (IEA) (link / cached copy)

Steam Reforming (of Methane), Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Electrolysis of Water, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Fueling Infrastructure (in chronological order):

Hydrogen Station, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Analysis of the Hydrogen Infrastructure Needed to Enable Commercial Introduction of Hydrogen-Fueled Vehicles, M. Melendez and A. Milbrandt, National Renewable Energy Lab, 2005 (link / cached copy)

Developing Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure for Fuel Fell Vehicles - A status Update, International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), 2017 (link / cached copy)

Modeling Hydrogen Refueling Infrastructure to Support Passenger Vehicles, Muratori et al., National Renewable Energy Lab, J. Energies 11, p. 1171 (2018) (link / cached copy

A Look At Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure In 2018, CleanTechnica.com (link / cached copy)

2020 Annual Evaluation of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Deployment & Hydrogen Fuel Station Network Development, California Air Resources Board (link / cached copy)

Press summary of preceding report:

CARB Releases Annual Evaluation of FCEV Deployment and Hydrogen Station Network Development, GreenCarCongress.com (link / cached copy

Costs Check Growth of Fuel-Cell Infrastructure, Wards Auto 2019 (link / cached copy)

Why We Still Can't Deliver on the Promise of Hydrogen Cars, Drive.com, 2020 (link / cached copy)

California’s ‘Hydrogen Highway’ Never Happened - Could 2020 Change That?  CalMatters.org (link / cached copy)

FCEV Well-to-Wheel Energy & GHG Analyses (some including comparisons to PEVs):

Hydrogen Pathways: Cost, Well-to-Wheels Energy Use and Emissions of Seven Hydrogen Production, Delivery and Distribution Systems, Ruth et al, National Renewable Energy Lab, 2009 (link / cached copy)

How Clean Are Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles? Fact Sheet, Union of Concerned Scientists, 2014 (link / cached copy)

Where Are We Heading With Electric Vehicles, Air Quality and Climate Change 52(3), pp. 18-27, September 2018 (link / cached copy

Phys Org article about the preceding study, written by that study's authors:

Why Battery-Powered Vehicles Stack up Better than Hydrogen, Phys.Org, 2018 (link / cached paper)

A Guide to Comparing Electric Vehicles: Hybrid vs. Battery Electric vs. Plug-in vs. Fuel Cell, Union of Concerned Scientists, 2020 (link / cached copy)

A Portfolio of Power-trains for Europe: A Fact-based Analysis (commissioned by consortium of companies and NGOs involved in auto manufacture, fossil-fuels, electric power, wind power, hydrogen generation and fuel cells) 2020 (link / cached copy)

Additional Hidden or Long-Term Environment Impacts of Batteries & Fuel Cells?

Battery Environmental Impacts:

Contribution of Li-Ion Batteries to the Environmental Impact of Electric Vehicles, Notter et al., Environmental Science & Technology 44, pp. 6550-6556 (2010) (link / cached copy

Do You Know Where Your Batteries Come From? TheConversation.com 2017 (link /cached copy)

Batteries Can be Part of the Fight Against Climate Change - If We do these Five Things, World Economic Forum 2017 (link / cached copy) 

Don't be Fooled by Attacks on the Lithium Battery, David Suzuki, National Observer 2017 (link / cached copy

Effects of Battery Manufacturing on Electric Vehicle Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions, International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), 2018 (link / cached copy

The Spiraling Environmental Cost of our Lithium Battery Addiction, Wired Magazine UK 2018 (link / cached copy

Will Your Electric Car Save the World or Wreck It? Engineering.com 2018 (link / cached copy

Cobalt is Critical to the Renewable Energy Transition. How can we Minimize its Social and Environmental Cost? Ensia.com 2018 (link / cached copy)

The Path to Lithium Batteries: Friend or Foe? TreeHugger.com 2018 (link / cached copy

Effects of Battery Manufacturing on Electric Vehicle Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions, International Council on Clean Transportation - ICCT (2018) (link / cached copy

Environmental Effects of Battery Electric and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles, U.S. Congressional Research Service 2020 (link / cached copy

UN Highlights Urgent Need to Tackle Impact of Likely Electric Car Battery Production Boom - UN News Org. 2020 (link / cached copy

Report referenced in preceding UN News article:

Commodities at a Glance - Special Issue on Battery Raw Materials, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 2020 (link / cached copy

Fuel Cell Environmental Impacts

Life-Cycle Analysis of Fuel Cell System Components, M. Pehnt,  Handbook of Fuel Cells - Fundamentals, Technology and Applications (ISBN: 0-471-49926-9), 2003 (link / cached copy)

Environmental Impacts of Hydrogen-based Energy Systems, European Union, 2005 (link / cached copy)

Life Cycle Analysis of Fuel Cell Technology, Dhanushkodi et al., J. Environ. Informatics 11(1) 36-44 (2008) (link / cached copy)

Study Questions Environmental Impact of Fuel-Cell Vehicles, Physics World, 2015 (link / cached copy)

Are Fuel Cells Environmentally Friendly? Not Always, Science Daily 2015 (link / cached copy)

Paywalled Royal Society of Chemistry study to which two previous articles refer:

Life Cycle Assessment of PEM FC Applications: Electric Mobility and μ-CHP, Notter et al., J. Energy & Environmental Science (paywalled link

Life Cycle Environmental and Cost Comparison of Current and Future Passenger Cars under Different Energy Scenarios, Cox et al., J. Applied Energy 269, p.115021 (2020) (link / cached copy

The Resultant Lingering (and Heated) Debate about PEVs vs FCEVs:

As Argued in the Press:

Why the Automotive Future Will Be Dominated by Fuel Cells, IEEE Spectrum, 2016 (link / cached copy

Is Hydrogen Internal Combustion a Better Idea than Fuel Cells? GreenCarReports.com, 2019 (link / cached copy)

Hydrogen Fuel Cell vs Electric Cars: What You Need to Know but Couldn't Ask, EuroNews.com 2020 (link / cached copy)

As Argued by VW & Tesla (for batteries) vs. Toyota (for fuel cells):

Hydrogen or Battery? A Clear Case, Until Further Notice, VW, 2019 (link / cached copy)

Reports & discussion of the preceding article:

Battery Electric vs. Hydrogen Fuel Cell: Efficiency Comparison, InsideEVs.com, 2020  (link / cached copy)

Battery-Electric or Hydrogen Fuel Cell - VW Lays Out Why One is the Winner - Green Car Reports, (link / cached copy)

Toyota vs. Tesla - Can Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles Compete with Electric Vehicles? EnergyPost.eu, 2015 (link / cached copy)

Toyota Really Believes Hydrogen Fuel Cells are the Future - Here’s why, Autoweek.com, 2019 (link / cached copy)

 


Autonomous Vehicles:

History of Intelligent Transportation Systems, U.S. Department of Transportation (link / cached copy)

A Brief History of the High-tech Safety Features in Your Car, Automoblog.net (link / cached copy)

Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS), Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

ADAS Sensors, BMW (link / cached copy)

DARPA Grand Challenge, Wikipedia (link / cached copy)

Dream of an Automated Highway, U.S. Federal Highway Administration, 2007 (link / cached copy)

How an Automated Car Platoon Works, U.S. Department of Transportation, 2017 (link / cached copy)

Formation Control for a Fleet of Autonomous Vehicles - A Survey, A. Soni & H. Hu, J. Robotics Robotics 7, p. 67 (2018) (link / cached copy)

Environmental Assessment by Governments & NGOs:

Climate and Energy Impacts of Automated Vehicles, University of California Berkeley / California Air Resources Board, 2014 (link / cached copy)

Travel Effects and Associated Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Automated Vehicles, National Center for Sustainable Transportation, University of California Davis / U.S. Dept. of Transportation, 2018 (link / cached copy)

New Mobility: Today's Technology and Policy Landscape, International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), 2017 (link / cached copy

Automation in the Long Haul: Challenges and Opportunities of Autonomous Heavy-duty Trucking in the United States, International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), 2018 (link / cached copy

Future of Transportation: Autonomous and . . . Internal Combustion, International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), 2018 (link / cached copy

Less (Cars) is More - How to go from New to Sustainable Mobility, TransportEnvironment.org, 2019 (link / cached copy)

Impact of Vehicle Automation on Carbon Emissions, Center for American Progress, 2016 (link / cached copy)

Environmental Assessment by Academics:

Help or Hindrance? The Travel, Energy and Carbon Impacts of Highly Automated Vehicles, Wadud et al., Transportation Research A16, pp. 1-18 (2016) (link / cached copy

The Environmental Impact of Autonomous Vehicles Depends on Adoption Patterns, Miller and Heard,   Environ. Sci. Technol. 50, pp. 6119−6121 (2016) (link / cached copy)

A Review on Energy, Environmental, and Sustainability Implications of Connected and Automated Vehicles, Taiebat et al., Environ. Sci. Technol. 52, pp. 11449-11465 (2018) (link / cached copy)

Connected & Autonomous Vehicles – Environmental Impacts – A Review, Kopleias et al., Science of the Total Environment 712 (2020) (link / cached copy)

Assessing the Sustainability Implications of Autonomous Vehicles: Recommendations for Research Community Practice, Williams et al., Sustainability 12, 1902 (2020) (link / cached copy)