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Navigating Options for Transportation Electrification and Solar Charging: Steps and Lessons Learned in Montana Communities
6/1/2024
Drawing on analysis and outreach in three Montana communities (Missoula, Bozeman, and Whitefish), this report provides guidance and best practices for other towns and cities across the country on how to effectively implement electric vehicle (EV) transportation options into their communities. The report incorporates logistical considerations—vehicle types, chargers, electricity generation—and useful strategies—effective stakeholder engagement, coordinating EV charging and renewable energy generation, and more—to cover the technological, economic, and environmental aspects of the transition to EVs.
Authors: Andrew Valainis; Kyla Maki; Chase Jones; Natalie Meyer; Amy Cilimburg
Grid-Constrained Electric Vehicle Fast Charging Sites: Battery-Buffered Options
6/1/2024
America’s electric vehicle (EV) charging network is growing quickly, but many rural regions across the country experience electrical grid restraints that complicate the EV charger build-out. Government agencies must still devise strategies for deploying chargers in these locations where electrical grid capacity is more limited. This technical assistance case study provides guidance on battery-buffered options for EV charging sites with limited grid capacity, including infrastructure solutions, project economics, energy specification methods, technical considerations, and other relevant strategies.
Solar Power + Electric Vehicle Charging: Capturing Synergies in Minnesota
6/1/2024
A suite of aggressive climate action legislation, including a series of solar development commitments, has contributed to Minnesota reducing the carbon intensity of its power sector by 29% over 2013 levels. However, the carbon footprint of each sector has not dropped equally. In 2018, the transportation sector overtook power generation as the leading emissions producer statewide. The same focus on solar energy—combined with electric vehicle (EV) use—offers a vital opportunity for Minnesota to decrease transportation emissions. The analysis in this report examines the underdeveloped synthesis between solar production and EV charging, presenting seven key findings paired with relevant recommendations to transform the market and decrease transportation-based emissions.
Authors: Brian Ross; Katelyn Bocklund; Matthew Prorok; Dane McFarlane; Abby Finis
Physical Safety and Security at Electric Vehicle Charging Sites
6/1/2024
As electric vehicle (EV) demand grows, so does the need for more robust EV charger safety and security. EV charger host sites must work to uplift driver and passenger confidence by incorporating design elements that promote greater safety and security. This help sheet outlines various best practices for public EV chargers. While the help sheet indicates the higher monetary costs attributed to greater safety and security measures, it also clarifies the greater repeat customers rates that result from these improvements.
Hot Weather Impacts on Battery-Electric Transit Buses
5/1/2024
This help sheet provides information about the impact of hot weather on battery electric buses (BEB) that transit fleets should consider when integrating BEBs into their fleets and a checklist of relative precautions that transit agencies can take during the deployment planning process to ensure optimal performance of BEBs in hot weather.
Powering Seattle Fleets: A Charging Infrastructure Strategy for Battery-Electric Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles
5/1/2024
Within the Puget Sound region, transit agencies are positioned to lead in a surge of electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs). Seattle City Light (SCL), the municipal electric utility of Seattle, is responsible for both ensuring sufficient infrastructure and grid capacity to meet the future energy requirements of electrification of these vehicles. This report serves to inform development of the charging infrastructure strategy for the utility through analysis of projected charging infrastructure development and local vehicle data. The analysis resulted in seven broad recommendations for the utility, addressing en-route charging, depot charging, internal operations, and communications with fleets.
Authors: Steimer, H; Allcock, C; Minjares, R; Brito, J; Buysse, C
SiLVERS: St. Louis Vehicle Electrification Rides for Seniors Final Report
5/1/2024
Program-specific electric vehicle (EV) use cases can be particularly helpful towards nationwide EV adoption, as they prove EVs can perform as well, if not better, than their internal combustion counterparts. This case study highlights the successes, challenges, and lessons learned from a 3-and-a-half-year pilot program that employed EVs to deliver and transport senior citizens around the St. Louis area. The study demonstrates how electrifying social services not only maintains performance, but simultaneously reduces carbon emissions and saves on operating costs, the latter being a particularly significant factor for programs receiving little funding.
Authors: Connor Herman
Clean Cities and Communities Overview
4/26/2024
Clean Cities and Communities is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) partnership to advance clean transportation nationwide. More than 75 DOE-designated Clean Cities and Communities coalitions work locally in urban, suburban, and rural communities to strengthen the nation's environment, energy security, and economic prosperity. As partners with DOE's Vehicle Technologies Office, coalitions work to deploy affordable, efficient, and clean transportation; energy efficient mobility systems; and fuel-saving technologies and practices.
The Role of Biofuels and Biomass Feedstocks for Decarbonizing the U.S. Economy by 2050
4/11/2024
Bioenergy holds significant potential to transform the transportation sector, helping to eliminate hard-to-abate sources of emissions, such as aviation, that lack viable electrification alternatives. Further, integrating more biomass-based electrification pathways will diversify the country’s electrical grid, increasing its stability in the future. This study uses process-based analyses of biomass resources and pathways to demonstrate the decarbonization potential and cost-efficiency of scaling bioenergy in the United States.
High-Power Electric Vehicle Charging Hub Integration Platform (eCHIP): Design Guidelines and Specifications for DC Distribution-Based Charging Hub
4/1/2024
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-funded EVs@Scale Consortium aims to expand direct current (DC), distribution-based, high-power charging systems through eCHIP. Further, the eCHIP program seeks to develop affordable, efficient, and interoperable DC-coupled charging hubs (“DC hub”). This report provides a step-by-step analysis of the DC hub platform, including design, development, and implementation. The report also offers metrics and considerations for DC hub system design, using results from a preliminary eCHIP experiment as benchmarking.
Authors: Mithat John Kisacikoglu; Jason D. Harper; Rajendra Prasad Kandula; Alastair P. Thurlbeck; Akram Syed Ali
Study of Electric Vehicle Range Loss Associated with Replacement Tires
4/1/2024
This technical report from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) examines how replacement tires affect the range of EVs, with a goal of supplementing the EV information made available to consumers on the FuelEconomy.Gov website. The report analyzes the change in range from worn tires versus replacement tires, paying particular attention to how tire friction impacts range losses. The report also compares worn, replacement, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) tires across five EV models from different EV manufacturers. ORNL concludes that, compared to OEM tires, tire replacements reduce estimated EV range whereas worn tires increase estimated range.
Authors: C. Scott Sluder; Stacy C. Davis; Robert G. Boundy
Fuel Properties Comparison Chart
3/20/2024
This chart compares the physical fuel properties and considerations associated with gasoline/E10, low sulfur diesel, biodiesel, renewable diesel, propane, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, ethanol, methanol, hydrogen, and electricity for use as vehicle fuels.
Authors: Putzig, M.; Gonzalez, J.; Moriarty, K.; Brown, A.; Rahill, M.
Levelized Cost of Dispensed Hydrogen for Heavy-Duty Vehicles
3/1/2024
This short technical report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) examines a range of levelized costs of dispensed hydrogen (H2) from hydrogen refueling (or fueling) stations (HRS) for H2 heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). NREL presents a cost range for infrastructure feasible within the 2030 timeframe and explores different scenarios by varying hydrogen delivery distances, HRS sizes, HRS utilization rates, and economies of scale in the Hydrogen Delivery Scenario Analysis Model (HDSAM) tool. These comparisons reflect how different supply chain components affect the levelized cost of dispensed hydrogen.
Authors: Justin Bracci; Mariya Koleva; Mark Chung
Multi-State Transportation Electrification Impact Study
3/1/2024
This study was conducted to help answer technical and deployment questions about whether the electric grid can accommodate increasing demands from transportation electrification, particularly if it can accommodate the anticipated impact of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rulemakings if finalized as proposed on greenhouse gas emission standards for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty on-road vehicles The study analyzes charging infrastructure and distribution grid upgrade needs for California, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, which are indicative of a variety of transportation demand and utility distribution infrastructure in the United States.
Refueling Infrastructure Deployment in Low-Income and Non-Urban Communities
3/1/2024
Following the need for increased investment in infrastructure that supports low- and zero-emission vehicles in low-income and overburdened communities identified in the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization and the eligibility criteria in the alternative fuel infrastructure tax credit that encourages investment in underserved communities, this report quantifies how many fueling amenities are currently located in census tracts that qualify for the tax credit, as well as the percent of the U.S. population and the percentage of current vehicle registrations that are located in the eligible census tracts.
Authors: Gohlke, D; Zhou, Y; Wu, X
