Volvo EX30 LCA Shows Lowest Carbon Footprint of Any Electric Volvo Car

The Volvo EX30 possesses the smallest carbon footprint of any fully electric Volvo car to date. That’s according to the life cycle assessment (LCA) of the Volvo EX30, available here, which concludes that it has a total carbon footprint of 23 tonnes per 200,000 km – approximately 60 per cent less than the XC40 ICE (petrol).

The carbon footprint report identifies the key contributing materials and processes to the car’s emissions. Exclusively focused on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the report covers the car’s life cycle, starting with the extraction and refining of raw materials and ending with the car’s end-of-life.

Using wind-based electricity to charge the EX30 substantially reduces the carbon footprint compared to global or European electricity mixes, by approximately 42 per cent and 22 per cent respectively. This underlines the need to accelerate investments in renewable energy infrastructure globally for electric cars to reach their full climate potential.

“Transitioning to electric cars is key to limiting climate change, but increased transparency about its challenges is needed to reduce their emissions even further,” says Jonas Otterheim, head of climate action at Volvo Cars. “By studying the EX30’s carbon footprint and identifying its primary materials and processes, we aim to provide valuable insights that can help guide decisions in our company towards becoming more sustainable, as well as amongst the wider industry.”