Master thesis: Life Cycle Assessment of Connected Vehicles.
Doing your master thesis with us at IVL gives you the opportunity to get a unique insight into our research and our work. It's a chance to learn a lot more in your field of study. We welcome master thesis students every semester.
About the master thesis
Background
Modern vehicles increasingly rely on continuous connectivity to cloud and internet services for software updates, remote diagnostics, navigation, infotainment, fleet management, and more. While these digital functions can improve efficiency (e.g. route optimization, predictive maintenance), they also impose environmental burdens through data transmission, edge/cloud computing, and data center operations (energy use, cooling, resource consumption).
Purpose & Scope
The thesis aims to quantify and analyse the life-cycle environmental impact of connected-vehicle services, taking into account both the digital infrastructure (network, edge, cloud, data centers) and the potential energy/efficiency gains enabled by the services themselves. Key tasks include:
- Estimating the environmental impacts from data transmission, computation, and storage per vehicle
- Assessing net impact: balancing emissions from digital operations against energy savings or emission reductions enabled by connected services (e.g. eco-driving, route optimization).
- Conducting sensitivity/scenario analysis to explore how results vary with assumptions (e.g. data volumes, electricity mix, placement of computation).
Prerequisites
We welcome applicants from master programs such as industrial ecology or sustainable energy systems. Previous knowledge in LCA is preferred but not mandatory.
Start date: Flexible (earliest January 2026)
Contact
For questions, please contact: Julia Lindholm julia.lindholm@ivl.se
Interested?
Submit your interest by clicking on "Registration of interest".
- Department
- Life Cycle Management
- Locations
- Master thesis, Gothenburg
- Employment type
- Exjobb/Degree project
- Last application date
- 19 December, 2025
About IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute is an independent research institute with the broadest environmental profile in Sweden. Together with businesses, government agencies, and the research community, we drive the transition towards a sustainable society – from science to reality.
We engage in applied research and consulting assignments that contribute to achieving both the global sustainability goals and Sweden's environmental objectives.
Based in Sweden with an international presence across several continents, we work together with clients worldwide to drive sustainable development. The group has a turnover of 574 million SEK, and the Institute for Water and Air Protection Research Foundation (SIVL) is the sole owner of IVL. Representatives from both the business sector and government agencies sit on our boards.
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