Wood you believe it? Electric vehicles and engineered wood from an environmental perspective

In the transition to a circular bioeconomy, engineered wood products can help achieve environmental policy targets. Wood has been used as a raw material for various industries for centuries and the automotive industry could utilize wood as a structural component in vehicles. This study investigates the environmental performance of a battery compartment for electric vehicles that relies on engineered wood as a structural component. In a life cycle assessment, the wood hybrid battery compartment was compared to an industry standard over its whole life cycle with two differing end-of-life scenarios. The results indicate that the wood hybrid battery compartment creates substantially less impact over its whole life cycle. The biggest potential for impact savings is identified in the resource extraction- and production phase. In the use phase, the lightweight battery compartment also generates less environmental impact since the use of engineered wood leads to a more lightweight vehicle overall. A material reutilization of engineered wood components in the end-of-life phase further reduces the environmental impact of the wood hybrid battery compartment. The results of this study indicate that the manufacturing of wood engineered structural components for electric vehicles is beneficial from an environmental perspective.