State of the art on the sustainability of lithium-ion batteries for electric mobility

The massive electrification of vehicles is a key point in the energy transition. This shift leads to various challenges, especially regarding lithium-ion batteries, as they can cause several environmental and socioeconomic impacts throughout their lifecycle. Therefore, it is essential to assess these effects in order to reduce them. This paper provides a comprehensive study of the literature regarding lithium-ion batteries sustainability (ecological, social and economic aspects) in the context of electric mobility. This paper highlights the growing number of published Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) addressing environmental impacts, while emphasizing the need for methodological harmonization at multiple levels, particularly in LCA tools and methods, as well as in the battery life cycle models considered. The lack of transparent and accessible data has been also highlighted. In the case of Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA), evaluating social impacts, a significant lack of studies and data have been noted. Moreover, this methodology requires further clarification and development. Life Cycle Costing (LCC), assessing economic impacts, rarely covers the entire life cycle of batteries, and its framework needs to be defined more clearly. Finally, sustainability studies, combining the three previous concepts, are rare, and the methodological frameworks and links between the three sustainability dimensions need to be clarified. This work explicitly identifies the obstacles and levers for accurately assessing the sustainability of lithium-ion batteries. In particular, recommendations are made on three major points. Firstly, the harmonization of assessment methodologies. Secondly, the need for interdisciplinary contributions to develop robust LCA models, illustrated by the example of the electrical engineering community, which can contribute to the integration of behavioural and aging models, usage scenarios, as well as account for the diversity of battery technologies. Thirdly, recommendations are made to support the development of more robust data and models, through open-science or the development of a secure data-sharing framework. Finally, all the data extracted from our study are open access.