UK electric vehicle battery supply chain sustainability: A systematic review

Abstract

Electric vehicles are set to grow markedly over the coming years, as are the lithium-ion batteries that power them. There are concerns that, despite the many benefits of electric vehicle usage, the downsides of their batteries could affect their overall sustainability impact. There has also been a push in recent years to expand the definition of sustainability past environmental and social factors, to gain a more holistic view of sustainability. This study conducts a systematic review of the sustainability factors for lithium-ion batteries from UK electric vehicles. The review was conducted on academic and grey literature, including relevant guidelines and policy documents. 44 factors were identified as important sustainability factors for the UK electric vehicle battery supply chain, spanning six sustainability dimensions: political, economic, social, technical, legal, and environmental. These factors combine to form a proposed definition of what a sustainability lithium-ion battery supply chain is, from the perspective of the UK. The results show that research in this sector should expand the definition of sustainability from purely environmental, social, and economic to include wider sustainability factors that encompass politics, legality, and technical aspects to avoid missing key sustainability issues. Future research should build on these factors to create a framework that can assess sustainability across the battery supply chain for UK electric vehicle manufacturers and prioritise the indicators. The implications of this study can be expanded on for other regions or other battery sectors. • Systematic review to identify sustainability factors for UK vehicle batteries. • Sustainability covers political, economic, social, technical, legal and environmental areas. • 44 factors found across the PESTLE spectrum. • Definition of sustainability must be expanded to accurately assess supply chain.

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