Moving towards a cleaner transportation is necessary for a more sustainable future. Hydrogen, as a clean energy carrier, can play an important role. It can be used in fuel cell vehicles (FCV) or in internal combustion engines. In this paper, a life cycle assessment of a FCV with 5 different fuel cycles including steam methane reforming (SMR), coal gasification, photovoltaics, solar thermal and grid electrolysis is conducted for Iran. Also, the FCV is compared with a conventional gasoline vehicle. It is concluded that for all of the considered pathways, the FCV is more environmentally benign than the gasoline vehicle, except when its hydrogen is produced from the electrolysis of water using national grid electricity. The total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the FCV with grid electrolysis are found to be 0.465 kg CO2 eq./km, which is 56% higher than those of a gasoline vehicle. It is also shown that the material production and manufacturing phase of the FCV’s vehicle cycle is the main contributor to the total GHG emissions of the vehicle. The glider, hydrogen tank and fuel cell stack manufacturing have the most impacts on the environment. A FCV powered by clean hydrogen produced from electrolysis of water with the electricity produced from photovoltaics produces 0.135 kg CO2 eq./km which is less than half of the emissions associated with a gasoline vehicle.

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