Green NCAP has launched a new Consumer Life Cycle Assessment Tool on its portal, allowing website visitors to compare the LCA values of cars in relation to their country, energy mix and usage. 

Targeting consumers who are considering the sustainability of their vehicle in the context of where they live and their long-term usage, as well as academics, industry, and legislators, Green NCAP says this tool represents a real step forward towards global environmental awareness about climate-changing emissions and the lifecycle energy required to produce green and sustainable cars.

It is commonly understood that to consider the true ecological impact and sustainability of a car, the vehicle must be viewed in the context of its whole life cycle.  Life Cycle Assessment, or LCA, is the method that estimates these individual contributions to predict the car’s environmental impact over its entire lifetime.  This means that all processes, greenhouse gas emissions and flows of resources and energy associated with the car’s production, usage, and recycling at the end of its life, are considered.

Building on the LCA information that was published earlier this year, the Green NCAP consortium delivers a unique interactive platform for LCA where the parameters can now be customised to local and personal circumstances, such as annual driven mileage, renewable energy mix and country.  This allows users to compare up to three cars and two countries, specific to needs and conditions.  The interactive platform draws data from a large database of over 30,000 models that, amongst others, include vehicles tested by Green NCAP that offer more realistic fuel and/or energy consumption values compared to those advertised.

Using the tool, consumers can identify the full life cycle energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions related to their chosen car and compare different models and powertrain types.  The results show the vehicle’s environmental impact over time, as well as highlight particular phases in the life cycle and also identify the triggers for further sustainability improvement.  For example, in its life cycle – from production to end-of-life, a typical compact family class petrol car uses about 190 MWh of energy, which corresponds to about 22,000 litres of petrol or the equivalent of over 550 visits to a petrol station.  At the same time, it produces about 50 tonnes of climate damaging emissions.  A similar sized battery electric vehicle generally offers significant greenhouse gas savings compared to the petrol car, but the actual impact and the energy demand depend on the electricity mix used.  The LCA tool gives you the possibility to examine the car’s ecological footprint in different European countries and reveals the benefits of a higher renewable electricity share.

User can access the LCA tool at the link below. 
https://www.greenncap.com/lca-tool/