Below you will find Green NCAP’s latest LCA results, sorted by the year of publication and by make in alphabetical order. The applied methodology is updated regularly in line with developments of industry and the data available. Starting with 2025, the LCA greenhouse gas results take into account where the vehicle production is done, as some parts of the world have higher industry emissions than others. Therefore, care should be taken when making a direct comparison with results of previous publication years. Green NCAP’s analysis is based on publicly available data about global generic supply chains but can also consider specific data of single vehicle manufacturers or models, if the necessary data is revealed to Green NCAP and verified by its experts. Green NCAP encourages the disclosure of brand and model-specific, certified LCA results.
To allow for a general comparison, our analysis assumes a vehicle lifetime of 16 years and an estimated mileage of 240,000 km. The calculations are based on the current forecast about changing average energy mix of the 27 EU Member States. More detailed LCA information for each car is available in the downloadable fact sheet for the vehicle.
As of 2025, the LCA fact sheet information is moved to the Green NCAP vehicle assessment sheets, where the pollutants LCA results are introduced as well.
Greener Choice LCA Award
In previous years as well, Green NCAP’s star ratings were an excellent way to compare the on-road environmental impact of new cars. While the Greenhouse Gas index included an ‘upstream’ component (the emissions related to the production and supply of fuels and energy), the rating did not consider factors such as vehicle or battery production. For this, Green NCAP published its Life Cycle Analysis, which allowed comparison of a car’s impact on climate from ‘cradle to grave’ i.e. from when it was manufactured, through its lifetime of usage and, finally, end-of-life treatment, which included some degree of recycling. The method of LCA is the most holistic indication of a vehicle’s environmental influence.
Up to 2024, Green NCAP gave LCA awards annually to five-star vehicles with the best LCA result. These were vehicles with total Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas emissions equal to or less than a fleet based threshold which evolves over time. This meant that, in addition to minimising the output of climate-damaging emissions during use, they were further reduced during production and maintenance, where lighter vehicles with smaller batteries showed clear advantages.
In 2024, the third edition of 'Green NCAP's Life Cycle Assessment Methodology and Data' is released. Among others, the update considers evolving raw materials blends and legislation for biofuels, the decreasing greenhouse gas intensity of battery production and an up-to-date forecast of the European electricity supply for the period 2024-2039, which was kindly made available by Ricardo. The UK electricity supply is not any longer included in the European Average EU27 value. Additionally, Norway as a further non-EU Member State country is added. As of 2024, investigations can include also the new fuels LPG and E85.
The results reflect the further development of the LCA methods and assumptions used, which are described in the second edition of 'Green NCAP's Life Cycle Assessment Methodology and Data' paper. Compared to the 2021 release, the calculations consider the increasing share of battery production in Europe and use the forecast of the energy supply in the period 2022-2037. Furthermore, the vehicle maintenance model has been improved and amongst other points, considers urea usage for diesel-powertrains.
The methodology used to calculate results can be found in the first edition of 'Green NCAP's Life Cycle Assessment Methodology and Data paper. To allow for a general comparison, the analysis introduces an assumed vehicle lifetime of 16 years and an estimated mileage of 240,000 km. The calculations are based on the forecast about changing average energy mix of the 27 EU Member States and the UK (EU27+UK) for the period 2021-2036.
Results were calculated with 2021 methodology, which can be found in the 1st edition of 'Green NCAP's Life Cycle Assessment Methodology and Data paper. To allow for a general comparison, the analysis introduces an assumed vehicle lifetime of 16 years and an estimated mileage of 240,000 km. The calculations are based on the forecast about changing average energy mix of the 27 EU Member States and the UK (EU27+UK) for the period 2021-2036.