In order to be able to draw up a comparison of the greenhouse gas balance, as well as the primary energy demand of different types of drive and fuel, also with regard to future developments, the FIA, through its Sustainable Mobility Programme, and Österreichischer Automobil- Motorrad- und Touring Club (ÖAMTC) commissioned a so-called “LCA tool” from the Joanneum Research in Graz in 2018. The project was also supported by ADAC and Touring Club Suisse (TCS). The LCA tool serves as the basis to calculate the estimated greenhouse gas emissions and primary energy demand over the entire life cycle for the cars tested as part of Green NCAP since 2019.

The current version includes the climate emissions of an average car in the compact class (Golf class) in 2022, which is then extrapolated to 240,000 km on the road by 2037. During this time, it will of course benefit from developments such as a changed electricity mix, which will become more and more regenerative in the future. The LCA tool contains pre-set standard data (default data) for the calculations, but also enables calculations based on your own data.

Parallel to the “LCA tool”, an “interactive LCA platform” was developed, in cooperation with the Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft and Green NCAP, where consumers can determine the energy requirements and greenhouse gas emissions of a vehicle over the entire life cycle and compare different models and drive types.

The German version of the Green NCAP interactive LCA platform is available here. ADAC is currently developing its own database solution.

Read more information on the LCA tool in German here or in English here.