Environmental life cycle assessment of selected SUV passenger cars

SUVs are the best-selling vehicle segment in Europe. 54% of all registrations in 2024 (a total of 6.92 million units) were vehicles of this type (an increase of 4% compared to 2023). The main objective of the study was to conduct an environmental assessment of the life cycle of selected passenger cars from the SUV segment. The research object was cars equipped with three different drive systems: ICEV powered by petrol, PHEV powered by petrol and BEV. During the research, two scenarios of post-consumer management of their materials, materials and components were adopted - in the form of landfill and using recycling processes. Two different time frames were also taken into account - the first for currently used cars, and the second for those to be registered in 2050 (forecasts). Additionally, an analysis of the fuel and energy cycles of the tested vehicles was carried out. The assessment of the destructive impact of the tested vehicles on the environment throughout their entire life cycle was carried out using the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) method, which used the ReCiPe 2016 and IPCC 2021 models.