How do I calculate the carbon footprint of an electric scooter?
The battery pack is usually the largest single item: use the cell or pack supplier's figure per kWh times the pack size. Add the frame, motor, controller, body panels and tyres, then the assembly plant's energy per scooter built.
Bought-in parts
- Lithium-ion battery pack, counted per kWh of capacity.
- Hub or mid-drive motor and controller.
- Steel frame, plastic body panels, tyres and wiring.
Making
- Frame welding and painting if done in-house.
- Battery pack assembly if done in-house.
- Vehicle assembly and end-of-line testing.
Per vehicle
Report per scooter by model and battery capacity. Charging electricity belongs to the use phase, not the factory figure.
Worked example: plant energy per vehicle (one month)
- Electricity: 100,000 kWh x 0.710 = 71,000 kg CO2
- Scooters built: 2,000
- Plant total: 71,000 / 2,000 = 35.5 kg CO2 per vehicle
- Add battery pack, motor, frame and body for the full figure
Inputs are illustrative; use your own bills and production records.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads the plant's electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and fuel invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record, the plant-level input to a per-unit figure. Bought-in materials go to the supplier evidence trail; product reports are self-declared drafts.
- Product carbon footprint calculator
- Imported lithium-ion cells footprint
- Battery pack assembly footprint
- E-rickshaw footprint
- Automobile industry
Sources: GHG Protocol Product Standard, ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults), CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0
Last reviewed 2026-10-21.