Well-to-wheel Energy Consumption and Pollutant Emissions Comparison between Electric and Non-electric Vehicles: a Modeling Approach

Although electric vehicles (EVs) gain more and more popularity these years, the issue on whether they are really more environmentally and ecologically sound than non-electric vehicles, e.g. gasoline and diesel fuel burned internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles has become a heat-debated one. This paper outlines an assessment model which intends to compare well-to-wheel energy consumption and pollutant emissions between EVs and non-electric ones, using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique based on the potential environmental and ecological impact. The modeling in this case predicted that from the perspective of total energy consumption and pollution, further improvements are still necessary for the feasibility and widespread use of EVs.