Towards Achieving Carbon Neutrality in Passenger Cars: Optimal Choice between BEVs and Carbon-Neutral ICEVs based on Threshold Traveled Distances

Abstract

Though the conversion towards battery electric vehicles (BEVs) running on renewable electricity has been touted as the main strategy for carbon neutrality in the passenger car sector, alternative pathways exist. Considering the current volume of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), one such pathway is using carbon-neutral fuel. However, the cost of such fuel remains high. Hence, in this paper, we compared the cost of BEVs on renewable electricity and ICEVs on carbon-neutral fuel. For minicars, the total traveled distance for BEVs to be cheaper than carbon-neutral ICEVs is about 100,000 km, while for standard-sized passenger cars, this happens at 280,000 km. With these relatively high distances, it can be concluded that not only should the costs of BEVs be lowered to make them more advantageous than ICEVs, the inclusion of carbon-neutral fueled ICEVs should also be promoted as an integral part of achieving carbon neutrality in passenger transport.