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Public charging infrastructure for plug-in electric vehicles: What is it worth?
2/7/2020
Lack of charging infrastructure is a significant barrier to the growth of the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market. Quantifying the value of public charging infrastructure can inform analysis of investment decisions and can help predict the impact of charging infrastructure on future PEV sales. This report focuses on quantifying the value of public chargers in terms of their ability to displace gasoline use for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and to enable additional electric vehicle miles for all-electric vehicles, thereby mitigating the limitations of shorter range and longer charging time.
Authors: Greene, D.L.; Kontou, E.; Borlaug, B.; Brooker, A.; Muratori, M.
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This Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment article (Vol. 78, January 2020, 102182) is copyrighted by Elsevier Ltd. and can be accessed through Science Direct.
Clean Cities Coalitions 2018 Activity Report
12/27/2019
Clean Cities coalition activities resulted in an energy use impact (EUI) of over 1 billion gasoline-gallons equivalent (GGE), comprised of net alternative fuels used and energy savings from efficiency projects, in 2018. Participation in vehicle and infrastructure development projects remained strong, as did alternative fuel use and resulting overall EUI. Clean Cities coalition activities reduce emissions as they impact energy use. Coalition-reported activities prevented 5 million carbon dioxide-equivalent tons of emissions (only greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions are reported here; criteria pollutants and other emissions are not included in this report). Coalitions were successful in securing project grant awards from numerous (non-DOE) outside sources. For other Federal, State, and local agencies and private sector foundations, see funding section on page 25. The 84 project grant awards in 2018 generated $251 million in funds from coalition members and project partners along with $1.9 million in DOE grant funds. Coalitions also collected $1.1 million in stakeholder dues and $2.9 million in operational funds from host organizations. In macro terms, this supplemental funding represents nearly a 7:1 leveraging of the $37.8 million that was included in the VTO Technology Integration budget in Fiscal Year 2018. Clean Cities coordinators spent nearly 121,000 hours pursuing their coalitions' goals in 2018. The average coordinator is quite experienced and has held his or her position for at least eight years. Coordinators logged more than 3,805 outreach, education, and training activities in 2018, which reached an estimated 35 million people.
Authors: Singer, M.; Johnson, C.
Best Practices for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Installations in the National Parks - Challenges, Lessons Learned, Installation Best Practices, and Recommendations for the National Park Service
12/27/2019
This report captures challenges, lessons learned, and best practices from recent National Park Service (NPS) electric vehicle supply equipment projects based on interviews with NPS employees and stakeholders involved in the projects. The report summarizes notable takeaways and makes recommendations to help ensure the success of future charging installation projects. Preserving this information will be valuable for informing and ensuring the success of future charging installation efforts at national parks, as well as for organizations outside of NPS. Note that this report focuses on light-duty plug-in electric vehicle projects, though NPS is also pursuing medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicle efforts.
Authors: Kelly, K.; Noblet., S.; Brown, A.
Preparing to Plug-In Your Bus Fleet: 10 Things to Consider
12/5/2019
The purpose of this guide is to identify some of the key areas where electric companies and their customers can work together to streamline the fleet electrification process. This guide is applicable to any company that operates a fleet, but it is particularly focused on medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fleets that likely will have higher power charging needs. Included in this guide is are 10 key considerations that fleets should know about electric companies and fleet electrification.
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This report is copyrighted and can be accessed on the Edison Electric Institute’s website.
Alternative Fuels Data Center
12/4/2019
The Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) provides a wealth of information and data on alternative and renewable fuels, advanced vehicles, fuel-saving strategies, and emerging transportation technologies. The site features a number of interactive tools, calculators, and mapping applications to aid in the implementation of these fuels, vehicles, and strategies. The AFDC functions as a dynamic online hub, enabling thousands of stakeholders in the transportation system to interact with one another.
Reducing EV Charging Infrastructure Costs
12/3/2019
This report finds that while the cost of hardware components is already falling as manufacturers gradually find ways to lower costs, there are significant “soft costs” that need to be reduced. The costs of permitting delays, utility interconnection requests, compliance with regulations, and the reengineering of projects because they were based on incorrect information, among others, are frequently cited as more significant cost drivers than charging station hardware in the United States.
Authors: Nelder, C.; Rogers, E.
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This copyrighted publication can be downloaded from Rocky Mountain Institute's website.
Viable Class 7 and 8 Electric, Hybrid, and Alternative Fuel Tractors
12/1/2019
Trucking is at the start of significant changes in powertrains. The purpose of this report is to help clarify in an unbiased way the differences and similarities in a wide spectrum of developing powertrain choices facing fleets. This report focuses on the primary near-term drivetrain choices for the Class 7 and 8 North American heavy-duty tractor market.
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This copyrighted publication can be accessed through North American Council for Freight Efficiency's website.
Electric Vehicle Capitals: Showing the Path to a Mainstream Market
11/20/2019
This briefing assesses metropolitan area-level data on plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) registrations and identifies the 25 largest PEV markets, which together represent 42% of new passenger PEV sales globally through 2018. To provide a blueprint for other governments, this briefing analyzes the incentives, charging infrastructure, and city promotion actions in these areas that are spurring PEVs into the mainstream.
Authors: Hall, D.; Cui, H.; Lutsey, N.
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This copyrighted publication can be accessed on The International Council on Clean Transportation's website.
Transportation Electrification Study
11/1/2019
Many cities around the country have undertaken actions and policies to support transportation electrification to improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support residents that choose to drive electric vehicles (EVs), enhance equitable access to clean mobility, and promote economic development. This study recommends efforts the City of Raleigh can undertake to advance transportation electrification both in its own operations and in the community more broadly. The report describes recommended strategies and actions the City of Raleigh can undertake to advance transportation electrification in the areas of City of Raleigh municipal fleet, charging infrastructure, equity and access, equitable economic development and public engagement, and implementation roles and responsibilities.
Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Tiger Team Site Assessment Findings from Army Facilities
10/31/2019
This report examines how the U.S. Army can cost-effectively install electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) to prepare for anticipated electric vehicle acquisitions, and summarizes results from 30 EVSE site visits completed at U.S. Army garrisons from 2016 to 2019. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Army, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory deployed Tiger Teams consisting of engineers and fleet experts to review garrison charging needs and develop recommendations for installing EVSE as well as compressed natural gas stations in certain locations.
Authors: Bennett, J.; Hodge, C.; Kurnik, C.; Kiatreungwattana, K.; Lynch, L.; Salasovich, J.
Foothill Transit Agency Battery Electric Bus Progress Report, Data Period Focus: Jan. 2019 through Jun. 2019
10/29/2019
This report summarizes results of a battery electric bus (BEB) evaluation at Foothill Transit, located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles. Foothill Transit is collaborating with the California Air Resources Board and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to evaluate the buses in revenue service. The focus of this evaluation is to compare the performance and the operating costs of the BEBs to that of conventional technology buses and to track progress over time. Previous reports documented results from April 2014 through December 2018. This report extends the data analysis through June 2019. The data period focus of this report is January 2019-June 2019. NREL plans to publish progress reports on the Foothill Transit fleet every 6 months through 2020.
Authors: Eudy, L.; Jeffers, M.
Measuring Mobility Potential: NREL Researchers Develop New Metric that Quantifies Mobility Energy Productivity
10/15/2019
This fact sheet provides an overview of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Mobility Energy Productivity (MEP) metric. The intent of the MEP metric is primarily to track changes in mobility within a single city, location, or place over time. The metric can measure current levels of mobility at a specific location, and then test how various technological advancements, services (e.g. scooters, ride hailing, automated vehicles), and infrastructure investments (e.g. bike lanes, mixed-used development) may impact the mobility of that location over time.
Authors: Garikapati, V.; Kelly, K.
Mobility Data and Models Informing Smart Cities
10/14/2019
Using emerging data platforms, new mobility technologies, and travel demand models (TDMs), researchers, industry, and communities seek to improve the quality of transportation while maximizing the energy efficiency, equity, and safety of transportation services. As transportation may soon reach over 30% of U.S. energy consumption and with urban areas representing an increasing proportion of the U.S. population (>80% since 2010), a critical need exists to engage in urban data science-informed approaches to enhancing mobility. The objective of this study is to explore and document how aspiring Smart Cities are using data and models to inform mobility and energy initiatives within Smart City programs and in so doing identify gaps in knowledge and processes guiding Smart City mobility investment strategies, programs, projects, and pilots. A primary focus of the Smart Cities studied was the creation of an integrated data sharing environment approach. Most of these systems are being developed in parallel with multiple new data analysis tools, while regional metropolitan planning organizations continue to slowly evolve TDMs to take into account impacts of long-term strategies for emerging mobility technologies and services. Smart City initiatives in the United States have keen interests in leveraging knowledge and research on the mobility benefits and risks of automated, connected, efficient/electric, and shared on-demand mobility services; and understanding the related energy, environmental, economic, and societal impacts of these shifts. The results serve to identify key gaps in data, knowledge, and methods required to advance energy efficient urban mobility innovation, and to enable research and analysis collaboration between Smart Cities and the U.S. Department of Energy's efforts enabling new Systems and Modeling for Accelerated Research in Transportation (SMART) Mobility.
Authors: Sperling, J.; Young, S.; Garikapati, V.; Duvall, A.; Beck, J.M.
Electric Vehicles: Key Trends, Issues, and Considerations for State Regulators
10/1/2019
Over the past few years, states across the country have seen increased consumer adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), thereby increasing electricity demand from the transportation sector. Electric utilities are at different stages of exploring their role in both building EV charging infrastructure and managing grid impacts, including through rate design and managed charging. As a result, many Public Utility Commissions (PUCs), the state agencies tasked with regulating utilities, are being asked to make decisions in this unfamiliar industry, sometimes without direct legislative guidance. This issue brief provides data about the trends in EV adoption, a synopsis of the types of decisions PUCs are facing, and examples of recent state regulatory approaches to EV questions.
Authors: Harper C.; McAndrews, G.; Sass Byrnett, D.
