Study of the impact of electric vehicles on fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emission scenarios in Sri Lanka

Abstract

On par with the rapid motorization, fuel consumption and emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) have become major challenges in the contemporary automotive industry. With a registered vehicle fleet of around 7.7 million road-vehicles and with an average survival rate of approximately 70%, Sri Lanka claims to an active vehicle fleet of around five million as of 2017. It can conspicuously be cited that 92% of the entire active fleet consists of Light Duty Vehicles which can be defined as the road-vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating less than 3.5 tons. United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) state ‘Affordable and clean energy as its 7th goal under which the target 7.3 is ‘doubling the improvement in energy efficiency’ directly aligns with the aim of the research study. Out of several approaches to mitigate the impacts of fuel consumption and emissions, electrification of the existing fleet and opting for electric vehicles as a new potential vehicle can be opted. The study analyses on the impact of electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers and cars on the fuel consumption and emission of GHGs in the national context forecasting on the future trends with increase in electric dominance to the traditional internal combustion engine vehicle.