Life cycle assessment of battery versus fuel cell in e-vehicle

The environmental friendliness of the battery in a purely battery electric vehicle is subject to increasing criticism. In addition to a high proportion of coal electricity in the electricity mix during vehicle operation, the focus is on the production of the materials inside the battery. Particular attention should be paid to greenhouse gas emissions and the availability of raw materials in cell production, as well as ecological and ethical aspects when mining the required battery raw materials.In this context, the fuel cell electric vehicle looks more advantageous at first glance, since it only has a small battery. In addition to the typical hydrogen production from natural gas and a Type IV tank, platinum is the most important factor in the life cycle assessment in the fuel cell.The paper is intended to provide an overview of the current study situation and give a comparative assessment of this complex topic.