LCA of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles – Analysis of the ESCALATE project pilots

For assessing the life cycle sustainability of the new technologies developed in the Escalate project, ecological indicators are analyzed. The usage of the vehicles in on-road tests offers access to specific real-world data for the covered use cases. As different drive train technologies are covered, a comparison of the different technologies on a vehicle to vehicle basis is possible. Based on emissions and resource consumption modelling, we will discuss results for the environmental life cycle assessment for the project’s pilot vehicles and corresponding reference vehicles. The focus of the evaluation is on the question of how different drive-train technologies in combination with the geographical locations of the test routes influence the result of the indicators. In addition, we show how to extend the vehicle-based analysis to a fleet level and how such results can support decisions on further political measures