Applications of Graphene in NEVs Paves Paths to a Carbon-neutral Auto Industry

The global energy and climate environment are currently experiencing enormous challenges, and reducing carbon emissions has become an important goal for environmental protection in all countries. Many countries have made it a legislative obligation to reduce carbon emissions, and the most viable path to achieving carbon neutrality in the automotive and transportation sectors is the development of new energy vehicles (NEVs). NEVs will dominate automobile development in the future, and countries and regions such as China, Europe, the United States, and Japan have made comparatively excellent progress. However, the challenge of new energy vehicle development is mostly centered on storage and charging technologies and mileage anxiety. Graphene is ultra-thin, ultra-light, super-strong, and transparent, with high electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, light transmittance, mechanical properties, surface adsorption qualities, and other features. It has the potential for fast charging and enormous capacity storage, as well as ultra-light and ultra-durable materials, etc. It will boost the development and popularity of new energy vehicles if it has mature applications in energy storage materials, thermal management systems, body and parts materials, and so on. In this study, we investigate the applications and possibilities of graphene in new energy vehicles from the perspective of carbon neutrality in the automobile industry, in order to identify the most likely paths to carbon neutrality in the automotive sector by applying graphene.