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The Japan Automobile Manufactures Association (JAMA), in pursuit of their goal of “creating products that put a minimum of load on the earth's environment”, have been carrying out an LCA Study related to motor vehicles. At the time of the previous TLC, for a single car taken as a collection of parts, an LCI study of the carbon dioxide emissions and consumption of energy only was carried out. It was based on 17 basic categories of materials and 13 basic manufacturing process categories. At the time of this study, the data obtained was limited to the total material consumption and energy consumption related to the manufacture of a typical 2000cc Japanese passenger car. The current study was focused on a 1500cc gasoline engine 4-door passenger sedan model, and we reclassified into approximately 140 classifications. The production process data was limited to the target model.

Electric vehicles(EVs) are expected to be effective in reducing various atmospheric emissions, but the extent of their advantages depends on the energy mix used in electric power generation. In this study, we first estimated the atmospheric emissions resulting from the use of EVs under the present energy mix. We then investigated the cost-effectiveness of EVs and other alternative fuel vehicles under the assumption that the structure of the present energy system was modified. EVs are apromising mode of future transportation and continuous efforts should be directed toward their development. At the same time, efforts must be made to reduce atmospheric emissions from power generation before EVs come into widespread use in the market.

The first LCA study conducted by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association was carried out to calculate energy consumption and CO2 emissions for average passenger cars in Japan. Five stages including mining and producing material, parts and automobile production, operation, maintenance, and disposal and recycling; and inter-stage transportation was included in the scope of evaluation. Energy consumption and CO2 emissions was evaluated and the influence of the average running speed during operation and the influence of part changes were examined.