Fraunhofer FFB
Assembly Line
Comparative life cycle assessment of lithium-ion, sodium-ion, and solid-state battery cells for electric vehicles
The transition toward electrification of transportation has resulted in a rapid increase in the demand for battery cells. While this demand is currently being met through the use of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), alternative batteries like sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) and solid-state batteries (SSBs) are emerging as relevant alternatives. In this study, we analyze, based on current electric vehicle electrode stack designs, the environmental impact of LIB cells, SIB cells, and SSB cells. The life cycle assessment results from this cradle-to-gate study show that for LIB cell production, ā¼58ā92 kgCO2-eq are emitted per kWhcell and ā¼296ā624 kWhCED/kWhcell of primary energy is required. In SIB cell production, ā¼75ā87 kgCO2-eq/kWhcell is emitted, and in SSB cell production, ā¼88ā130 kgCO2-eq/kWhcell, depending on their specific electrode stack configuration. The results demonstrate that LFP (lithiumāironāphosphate) cells require the least energy for production across all battery types under analysis. Furthermore, the findings indicate that, in terms of global warming potential (GWP), LFP and NMC900 (nickelāmanganeseācobalt) cells are the most sustainable battery types, at least when focusing solely on battery cell production and neglecting subsequent use phases. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that by optimizing the cell designs and their production, the environmental impact of battery cell production can be reduced in the short term by up to ā38%. This allows the production of LFP battery cells with a low GWP of ā¼37 kgCO2-eq/kWhcell and NMC900 cells with ā¼44 kgCO2-eq/kWhcell. Moreover, there is considerable room for improvement in other major LIB cell types.