Purpose Driven by the dual goals of carbon neutrality and air quality, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are seen as a key technology pathway to replace internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). However, most existing studies focus primarily on CO2 reductions, while overlooking multi-pollutant trade-offs and spatial heterogeneity. This paper assesses the multi-pollutant emissions of BEVs in different provinces and proposes indicators for prioritizing regional rollout. Methods Based on the cradle-to-cradle life cycle assessment (LCA) framework, 18 passenger car models were selected to calculate the CO2, SO2, NOX, and PM2.5 emissions from raw material production, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life for 30 provinces in China; each pollutant was standardized and aggregated into an integrated multi-pollutant performance index across CO2, SO2, NOX, and PM2.5; and the Battery Electric Vehicle Promotion Index (BPI) was constructed to identify the environmental and economic impacts of electric vehicles by combining the GDP of each province. Results and discussion From a single-pollutant perspective, BEVs significantly reduce CO2 and NOX emissions (reductions > 24%), but may lead to increases in SO2 and PM2.5 emissions in coal-dependent provinces. After standardizing and aggregating the four selected pollutants, BEVs show net multi-pollutant benefits in most, but not all, provinces. However, these benefits are conditional on regional electricity structures and pollutant profiles, and should not be interpreted as implying uniform superiority of BEVs over ICEVs across all regions and pollutant dimensions. The BPI identifies priority regions—such as Beijing, Zhejiang, and Fujian—where both environmental gains and economic readiness support accelerated BEVs adoption. These findings highlight the importance of aligning pollutant-specific impacts, power grid structures, and economic capacity in designing regionally differentiated clean mobility strategies. Conclusion This study provides policymakers with a multi-pollutant, regionally differentiated decision‐support framework—combining life‐cycle emissions and economic readiness—to design regionally differentiated BEV deployment strategies that seek to maximize carbon-neutrality and air-quality co-benefits while minimizing the risk of pollutant burden shifting.

A multi-pollutant life cycle assessment and regional index framework for battery electric vehicle deployment in China

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发表日期：

2026年4月29日

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Huitian Liu,
Dawei Hu,
Luke Kelleher,
Liming Wang

摘要

Purpose

Driven by the dual goals of carbon neutrality and air quality, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are seen as a key technology pathway to replace internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). However, most existing studies focus primarily on CO₂ reductions, while overlooking multi-pollutant trade-offs and spatial heterogeneity. This paper assesses the multi-pollutant emissions of BEVs in different provinces and proposes indicators for prioritizing regional rollout.

Methods

Based on the cradle-to-cradle life cycle assessment (LCA) framework, 18 passenger car models were selected to calculate the CO₂, SO₂, NO_X, and PM_2.5 emissions from raw material production, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life for 30 provinces in China; each pollutant was standardized and aggregated into an integrated multi-pollutant performance index across CO₂, SO₂, NO_X, and PM_2.5; and the Battery Electric Vehicle Promotion Index (BPI) was constructed to identify the environmental and economic impacts of electric vehicles by combining the GDP of each province.

Results and discussion

From a single-pollutant perspective, BEVs significantly reduce CO₂ and NO_X emissions (reductions > 24%), but may lead to increases in SO₂ and PM_2.5 emissions in coal-dependent provinces. After standardizing and aggregating the four selected pollutants, BEVs show net multi-pollutant benefits in most, but not all, provinces. However, these benefits are conditional on regional electricity structures and pollutant profiles, and should not be interpreted as implying uniform superiority of BEVs over ICEVs across all regions and pollutant dimensions. The BPI identifies priority regions—such as Beijing, Zhejiang, and Fujian—where both environmental gains and economic readiness support accelerated BEVs adoption. These findings highlight the importance of aligning pollutant-specific impacts, power grid structures, and economic capacity in designing regionally differentiated clean mobility strategies.

Conclusion

This study provides policymakers with a multi-pollutant, regionally differentiated decision‐support framework—combining life‐cycle emissions and economic readiness—to design regionally differentiated BEV deployment strategies that seek to maximize carbon-neutrality and air-quality co-benefits while minimizing the risk of pollutant burden shifting.