A Narrative Review of Life Cycle Assessments of Electric Vehicles: Methodological Challenges and Global Implications

Abstract

Considering the rapid global shift towards electric mobility and the growing importance of life-cycle assessments (LCAs) in policy and investment decisions, a critical examination of the methodological challenges and broader implications of electric vehicle (EV) life-cycle assessments is both timely and necessary. While numerous studies have assessed the environmental impacts of EVs using LCA, there remains a lack of consolidated insight into how methodological inconsistencies, particularly in system boundaries, functional units, and data sources, affect the comparability and policy relevance of results. This article addresses this gap by presenting a narrative review of LCA applied to EVs, with a focus on methodological approaches and environmental impact categories. The review aims to synthesize current knowledge, identify prevailing research trends, and highlight key methodological challenges in the LCA of EVs. A structured search was conducted using the Scopus database, initially yielding 1926 publications through a broad search strategy. To improve relevance and reduce the number of marginally related articles, the search was refined to include only article titles, resulting in 187 studies selected for detailed analysis. The VOSviewer software was employed to perform bibliometric and co-occurrence analysis, revealing key clusters in the literature related to battery production, electricity mix, and recycling.