Assessing the environmental and economic performance of alternative car chassis

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the life cycle environmental and economic performance of a car multimedia chassis containing metallic parts, and compare it with new, totally plastic, chassis designs. The Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing methodologies were applied. All systems boundaries consider material and parts production, and the use and End of Life (EoL) phases of the chassis. The results showed that the former system has a higher environmental impact, the material production being the main contributor followed by the use phase, and Fossil depletion the most burdensome impact category. All total plastic scenarios enable approximately 40% weight reduction, mitigating both the Global Warming Potential and the Cumulative Energy Demand environmental impacts until the end of the use phase. However, this result is inverted including the EoL phase, as recycling the metal is more favourable than incinerating the polymer and recovering energy. All TPC scenarios present a higher cost. Although their assembly and use phases costs are lower than the corresponding BSL ones, this does not mitigate the higher material and production costs. Again, at EoL, recycling the metal is more cost favourable. The present work evidences that to make sustainable decisions environmental and economic considerations should be concurrently contemplated in product development.