Comparative Well-to-Wheel Assessment of Conventional and Alternative Vehicles in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, and Yemen

Comparative Well-to-Wheel Assessment of Conventional and Alternative Vehicles in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, and Yemen

Mohamed Reda EL AOUNI, Salma Sedki, Fouzya KHARMACHI, Ahmed BAZZI

Abstract. This study investigates the well-to-wheel (WTW) environmental and water performance of conventional diesel ICE, hybrid electric vehicles, BEV, and FCV across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, and Yemen by using the GREET model. The climate change potential, respiratory effects, acidification, and water consumption per 100 km were evaluated. Clear country-dependent trends in vehicle performance can be seen. The FCVs show the smallest overall environmental impacts in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Yemen, with values of 0.0089 Pt/100 km for climate change, 0.0075 Pt/100 km for respiratory effects, and 0.00046 Pt/100 km for acidification, while BEVs perform best in the UAE, reaching 0.0051 Pt/100 km for climate change, 0.0068 Pt/100 km for respiratory effects, and 0.00047 Pt/100 km for acidification due to its relatively cleaner electricity mix. Water consumption shows comparable variability, with the lowest value observed for Oman at 5.09 L/100 km and the highest for Yemen at 9.9 L/100 km, confirming that the environmental and water advantages of alternative vehicle technologies are strongly influenced by the country’s energy and water resource characteristics.

Keywords
Life Cycle Assessment, Well to Wheel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Yemen, Climate Change, Respiratory Effects, Acidification, Sustainability, Alternative Fuel Vehicles, BEV, HEV, FCV, ICE

Published online 4/25/2026, 11 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA

Citation: Mohamed Reda EL AOUNI, Salma Sedki, Fouzya KHARMACHI, Ahmed BAZZI, Comparative Well-to-Wheel Assessment of Conventional and Alternative Vehicles in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, and Yemen, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 64, pp 813-823, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904091-101

The article was published as article 101 of the book Energy Futures

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

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