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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.
Notes:
This copyrighted publication can be accessed through North American Council for Freight Efficiency's website.
Current State of Nitrogen Oxide Emissions from In-Use Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles in the United States
11/25/2019
This report assesses the real-world nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions behavior of heavy-duty diesel vehicles in the United States, measured using portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS). This assessment is based on 160 PEMS tests from engines certified to 0.2 grams per brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr) of NOx. The tests include data from eight manufacturers and 26 unique engine families certified between 2010 and 2016. Second-by-second data was analyzed to compare against the compliance evaluation results and to assess the impact of vehicle speed, vehicle type, and manufacturer on real-world NOx emissions.
Authors: Badshah, H.; Posada, F.; Muncrief, R.
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This copyrighted publication can be accessed on The International Council on Clean Transportation'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.
Notes:
This copyrighted publication can be accessed on The International Council on Clean Transportation's website.
Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report, October 2019
11/18/2019
The Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report for October 2019 is a quarterly report on the prices of alternative fuels in the U.S. and their relation to gasoline and diesel prices. This issue describes prices that were gathered from Clean Cities coordinators and stakeholders between October 1, 2019 and October 15, 2019, and then averaged in order to determine regional price trends by fuel and variability in fuel price within regions and among regions. The prices collected for this report represent retail, at-the-pump sales prices for each fuel, including Federal and state motor fuel taxes.
Table 2 reports that the nationwide average price (all amounts are per gallon) for regular gasoline has decreased 8 cents from $2.76 to $2.68; diesel increased 4 cents from $3.04 to $3.08; CNG decreased a cent from $2.21 to $2.20; ethanol (E85) decreased 8 cents from $2.36 to $2.28; propane decreased 7 cents from $2.83 to $2.76; and biodiesel (B20) increased 1 cent from $2.86 to $2.87.
According to Table 3, CNG is $.48 less than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis, while E85 is $0.29 more than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis.
Authors: Bourbon, E.
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.
Funding the Transition to All Zero-Emission Vehicles
10/14/2019
Governments around the world actively steer their markets toward all zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). Among the key considerations for governments are: what types of support for incentives, infrastructure, and other programs are needed; how long to offer funding; and how the costs and benefits compare. This white paper analyzes the costs, benefits, and associated government funding, with the transition to all passenger ZEVs. The research quantifies funding based on incentives that are aligned with declining ZEV costs and the expenditures of exemplary programs in several high-ZEV uptake markets. The relative costs, benefits, and government outlays are analyzed for the transition to all ZEVs in the light-duty vehicle markets of the United States and Germany.
Authors: Slowik, P.; Hall, D.; Lutsey, N.; Nicholas, M.; Wappelhorst, S.
Notes:
This copyrighted publication can be accessed on The International Council on Clean Transportation's website.
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.
Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report, July 2019
10/8/2019
The Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report for July 2019 is a quarterly report on the prices of alternative fuels in the U.S. and their relation to gasoline and diesel prices. This issue describes prices that were gathered from Clean Cities coordinators and stakeholders between July 1, 2019 and July 15, 2019, and then averaged in order to determine regional price trends by fuel and variability in fuel price within regions and among regions. The prices collected for this report represent retail, at-the-pump sales prices for each fuel, including Federal and state motor fuel taxes.
Table 2 reports that the nationwide average price (all amounts are per gallon) for regular gasoline has remained the same at $2.76; diesel decreased 5 cents from $3.09 to $3.04; CNG decreased a cent from $2.22 to $2.21; ethanol (E85) increased 5 cents from $2.31 to $2.36; propane decreased 7 cents from $2.90 to $2.83; and biodiesel (B20) decreased 2 cents from $2.88 to $2.86.
According to Table 3, CNG is $.55 less than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis, while E85 is $0.30 more than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis.
Authors: Bourbon, E.
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.
Transportation Electrification: States Rev Up
9/26/2019
States are pivotal to transitioning the transportation sector to electric drive vehicles. The transition necessitates decisions regarding a wide range of issues, including education and outreach efforts, vehicle and charging infrastructure incentives, the location and specifications of public charging infrastructure, electrification corridor designations and signage and, in some states, allowable vehicle emissions levels. This white paper explores state incentives and other policy tools to advance electrification.
Authors: Rogotzke, M.; Eucalitto, G.; Gander, S.
Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines. Toxicology and Biodegradability of Tier Three Gasoline Blendstocks: Literature Review of Available Data
9/24/2019
This study provides framework for decision makers to more fully evaluate the toxicology and biodegradability of the tier three gasoline blendstocks developed under Co-Optima. These Co-Optima blendstocks were compared to gasoline surrogate compounds, providing guidance for future consideration as the project progresses. Due to the complexity of the subject area, all compounds were considered only in their pure form, not as complex mixtures with gasoline, which was outside the scope of this study. The metrics applied to the blendstocks were environmental transport and fate, environmental and human health toxicity, and environmental regulatory framework. The blendstocks (cyclopentanone; diisobutylene; 2-methylfuran; 2,5-dimethylfuran; isobutanol; ethanol; and isopropanol) presented limited human toxicity based on the information available. All the blendstocks migrated primarily into air or water, with little mobility between these compartments. Coupled with aerobic and/or anaerobic biodegradability, long term environmental persistence is unlikely, with the only exception being diisobutylene, which was not biodegradable. Additional work should focus on the environmental impact of these blendstocks in complex mixtures, such as gasoline, which will represent more real world scenarios.
Authors: Alleman, T.L.; Smith, D.
