Environmental and economic comparison of diesel and battery electric delivery vans to inform city logistics fleet replacement strategies. (October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Giordano, Alessandro; Fischbeck, Paul; Matthews, H. Scott
• Is Part Of: Transportation research. Volume 64(2018)
• Page Start: 216
• Page End: 229
• Publication Date: 2018-10
• Subjects: Commercial battery electric vehicle -- Delivery vans -- City logistics -- Sustainable urban deliveries -- Environmental LCA -- Economic LCA; Transportation -- Research -- Periodicals; Transportation -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; 354.76
• DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2017.10.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1361-9209

Abstract

Highlights: Over their life cycle, BEV vans reduce GHG emissions by 12–98% compared to diesel vans. When replacing old vans, BEV vans reduce NOx, PM2.5, and PM10 emissions by up to 99%. Battery replacement and greater annual mileage decrease life cycle cost differences. With current incentives, in some European cities BEV are cheaper than diesel vans. Cities can reduce CO2 from city-logistics up to 20% by promoting 23.4 kWh BEV vans. GHG emissions can decrease up to 98% or 99% by promoting 46.8 or 70.2 kWh BEV vans. Abstract: Poor air quality in urban areas and environmental concerns attributable to road transportation are growing and significant problems for governments. Many different options have been proposed to lower emissions, and a critical one is the use of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Since city-logistics accounts for about 25% of urban mobility emissions, we focus on battery electric and diesel delivery vans. The aim of this paper is to present a holistic view of the problem, comparing the environmental, social and economic impact of BEV and diesel delivery vans, providing useful insights to policy makers and fleet owners willing to replace or select delivery vans to include in their city-logistics fleets. In cities where new BEV vans replace old diesel vans and the electricity mix is relatively clean, CO2 emissions and air pollutants decrease by 93–98% and 85–99%, respectively. If BEVs use electricity coming from coal energy and are compared to new diesel vans, reductions of CO2 emissions and air pollutants are in the order of 12–13% and 0–92%, respectively. Longer battery life and greater annual mileage improve these results and decrease cost differences. Results also reveal that annual emissions benefits of replacing older diesel vans with BEVs are on the same order of magnitude of equivalent annual cost differences. From a strictly business perspective, BEV vans are already economically attractive in some cities with existing incentives; however, for other cities incentives equal to the value of their emissions reduction benefits are needed, but might not be sufficient to justify BEV acquisition.