Batteries or Hydrogen? Carbon footprint

Beeway helps decarbonize business mobility, but how many tons of CO2 can be avoided?

Beeway's contribution to decarbonization is assessed by considering that each Beeway vehicle avoids one diesel vehicle. We therefore compare the emissions of a diesel LCV with those of a Beeway to determine the savings achieved.

Diesel vehicle

Today, most commercial vehicles are powered by diesel engines.

Most manufacturers of diesel LCVs claim emissions of around 200 gCO2 / km, which leads to the following annual emissions:

Daily rollingDays of useAnnual runC02 emissions
10025025 0005 t
20025050 00010 t
30025075 00015 t
Annual CO2 emissions from a diesel vehicle

Battery Beeway

Electricity produced in France generates around 60 kgCO2/MWh. This value can be reduced if the electricity comes from a renewable source or is generated in countries that use a lot of fossil fuels for their electricity production (e.g. 416 kgCO2/MWh in the USA).

Assuming daily driving of 100 km, a LCV can be replaced by a battery-powered vehicle (above 200 km daily, a hydrogen version would be preferable). These 100 km per day lead to 25,000 km per year for 250 days of use.

A vehicle such as a Beeway consumes between 20 and 30 kWh per 100 km, depending on the weight carried and the road or driving profile. Assuming an average of 25 kWh per 100 km, an annual mileage of 25,000 km therefore requires 6.25 MWh.

Electricity produced in France generates around 60 kgCO2/MWh. The LCV's annual consumption of 6.25 MWh will therefore generate 375 kgCO2 per year.

Replacing a diesel van emitting 5tCO2/year with a battery-powered Beeway makes it possible to

4,625 tCO2 saved annually by driving 25,000 km/year.

Beeway Hydrogen

When driving too much, a battery-powered vehicle is no longer satisfactory, unless you can afford to recharge for dozens of minutes or even hours during the day. In this case, we'll assume daily driving of 300 km, i.e. 75,000 km per year, at a rate of 250 days per year of service.

This mileage requires 18.75 MWh per year, assuming an average consumption of 25 kWh per 100 km.

Given that 1 kg of hydrogen produces 16 kWh, 1,172 kg of hydrogen are needed per year.

If hydrogen is green (produced by electrolysis with electricity from renewable sources), each kilogram of hydrogen requires 1.59 kgCO2, or 1,863 kgCO2 to cover one year's mobility.

A Beeway hydrogen vehicle saves :

13 tCO2 per year by driving 75,000 km/year

Note that the above assessment for green hydrogen is based on the national RE mix in 2021. If the hydrogen comes from electricity generated directly by wind power, 1 kg of hydrogen requires 0.7 kgCO2, or even just 0.45 kgCO2 in the case of hydropower.

Further information

The above calculations are based on data collected by ADEME and made available on its GHG assessment website. They only cover the driving phase of the vehicle.

ADEME also offers data that includes the phases upstream of driving, i.e. vehicle manufacture and fuel production, amortized over the vehicle's lifetime (see here). However, the case of battery-electric LCVs is not covered.

Although battery-electric LCVs are not covered here, we can approach an electric passenger car evaluated at 100 gCO2/km. So 25,000 km a year would lead to 2,500 kgCO2.

A diesel LCV is rated at 826 gCO2/km, or 20,650 kgCO2 for 25,000 km.

Considering all upstream phases,

a battery-powered Beeway saves 18 tCO2 per year.

Using these calculation methods, the balance for a Hydrogen LCV is 90 gCO2/km, i.e. 6,750 kgCO2 for 75,000 km, which will require 62 tCO2,

a hydrogen Beeway saves 55 tCO2 per year.

Conclusion

Whether your Beeway vehicle is battery-powered or hydrogen-powered, it offers substantial savings inCO2 emissions, making it possible to decarbonize business mobility.

For the planet's well-being, switch to Beeway.

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