DOI: https://doi.org/10.61435/ijred.2025.61174

Environmental Impact on Electric Vehicle: Cradle-to-Cradle Approach for Various Vehicle Technology Toward Sustainable Transportation

1School of Environmental Science, University of Indonesia, Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia, Indonesia

2Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), Jakarta, Indonesia, Indonesia

3Electrical Engineering Department, University of Indonesia, Depok, West Java, Indonesia, Indonesia

Received: 1 Mar 2025; Published: 8 Nov 2025.
Editor(s): Grigorios Kyriakopoulos
Open Access Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s). Published by Centre of Biomass and Renewable Energy (CBIORE)
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

The transition to sustainable transportation is critical to global efforts to mitigate climate change and reduce environmental degradation. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating the environmental impacts of various vehicle technologies across their entire life-cycle. Numerous studies have been conducted using the cradle-to-gate/wheel/grave approach. However, material waste (vehicles and batteries) will become an ecological problem due to mining and extracting sources. Therefore, the cradle-to-cradle approach is considered to mitigate vehicles' end-of-life phase by material recycling and recovery. This study emphasizes various vehicle technology manufacturing, usage, and end-of-life phases. Unlike traditional cradle-to-grave assessments, the cradle-to-cradle approach promotes resource circularity by integrating material reuse and recycling into the evaluation process, thus minimizing waste and optimizing resource efficiency. The analysis identifies critical indicators, including energy consumption, air quality, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Electric vehicles (EVs), while reducing emissions during operation, pose challenges in material extraction for batteries and end-of-life management. By incorporating cradle-to-cradle principles, this study highlights strategies for improving material recovery and reusability, particularly for battery components and lightweight materials. This research underscores the importance of adopting greener energy sources and circular economy principles in the transportation sector to achieve sustainability goals. Policy recommendations include enhancing recycling infrastructure, incentivizing eco-friendly vehicle design, and fostering cross-sector collaboration. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of sustainable vehicle technology pathways and provide a framework for reducing environmental impacts while meeting growing transportation demands.

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Keywords: Life cycle assessment; electric vehicle; sustainability; transportation; cradle to cradle

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Section: Original Research Article
Language : EN
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