Publications

High-Potential Regions for Electric Truck Deployments

8/1/2020

Regional haul, heavy-duty trucking operations are good candidates for electrification due to the segment’s relatively short-hauls and return-to-base operations. Many early electric truck deployments have taken place in California, but as the market matures, fleets, utilities, manufacturers, policymakers, charging companies, and other industry stakeholders are seeking assistance to prioritize regions outside California for future deployments of this technology. This guidance report proposes a three-part framework that the industry can use to prioritize regions for electric truck deployments based on technology, need, and support.

Notes: This report is copyrighted and can be accessed through North American Council for Freight Efficiency website.

Evolution of Plug-In Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in the United States

8/1/2020

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) has tracked alternative fueling and electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the United States since 1991. This paper explores the history of the AFDC Station Locator, which was launched in 1999, and discusses the growth of electric vehicle supply equipment. It also looks at how electric vehicle drivers access public charging, and evaluates challenges, gaps, and opportunities facing both electric vehicle drivers and the industry as a whole.

Authors: Brown, A.; Lommele, S.; Eger, R.; Schayowitz, A.

Electric Vehicles at Scale - Phase I Analysis: High Electric Vehicle Adoption Impacts on the Western U.S. Power Grid

7/1/2020

The use of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in the United States has grown significantly during the last decade. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory performed a study on how PEVs at scale affect the electric grid as an aggregated new load. The Phase I study focused on the bulk power electricity impacts on the Western grid. This analysis addresses the following two key questions: 1) Are there sufficient resources in the U.S. bulk power grid to provide the electricity for charging a growing PEV fleet? and 2) What are the likely operational changes necessary to accommodate a growing PEV fleet?

Authors: Kintner-Meyer, M.; Davis, S.; Sridhar, S.; Bhatnagar, D.; Mahserejian, S.; Ghosal, M.

Financial Analysis of Battery Electric Transit Buses

6/10/2020

A baseline bus fleet and battery electric bus investment scenario was developed based on the average or common parameters of existing battery electric bus (BEB) fleets. A discounted cashflow analysis was done that found the baseline fleet to have a net present value of $785,000 and simple payback of 3.3 years. The 33 main parameters were then swung ±50% to determine their relative influence on NPV and were ranked accordingly. Then parameter volatility was estimated by dividing the range of observed values by the baseline value. The parameters that are most influential and volatile were highlighted as the ones fleet managers should focus on when determining if BEBs are a good investment option for them. These top parameters are 1) BEB purchase price, 2) purchase price of foregone diesel bus, 3) grant amount, 4) maintenance costs of foregone diesel bus, 5) annual vehicle miles traveled.

Authors: Johnson, C.; Nobler, E.; Eudy, L.; Jeffers, M.

State and Alternative Fuel Provider Fleets: Fleet Compliance Annual Report - Model Year 2018, Fiscal Year 2019

6/1/2020

This annual report of the Alternative Fuel Transportation Program, which ensures compliance with DOE regulations covering state government and alternative fuel provider fleets pursuant to the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct), as amended, provides fleet compliance results for manufacturing year 2018/fiscal year 2019.

Foundations of an Electric Mobility Strategy for the City of Mexicali

5/4/2020

The Foundations of an Electric Mobility Strategy for the city of Mexicali aligns with numerous energy, environmental, and transport plans and will help Mexicali meet multiple related goals. Mexicali’s energy mix, with 28% renewables, already enables plugin electric vehicles (PEVs) to reduce the mass of greenhouse gases (GHGs) per km driven 2/3 below that of their conventional counterparts. This GHG benefit will increase should Mexicali take steps to further increase their share of renewables in their electricity supply. Beyond increasing renewables, Mexicali could possibly deploy PEVs so that electric load is added in the right location (depending on further analysis of substations and feeders) and at the right time (between 21:00 and 11:00) in order to minimize grid upgrade costs. There are a handful of charge timing control mechanisms –at various stages of development– that Mexicali could implement. Transport electrification can facilitate mass transit by powering buses, trains, and small vehicles that get people from their homes or work to the transit stations and vice versa. Mexicali could utilize fleets as early PEV adopters in order to gain acceptance and add electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). Recommended prioritization of different types of fleets are suggested in this report: transit buses, school buses, airport ground support equipment (GSE), refuse trucks, taxis, shuttle buses, campus vehicles, delivery trucks, utility trucks, and finally semitrailers. There are a handful of policy options that Mexicali could use to incentivize fleets to purchase PEVs, including mandates, economic incentives, energy performance contracts, waivers to access restrictions, electricity discounts, and EVSE requirements in building codes. Mexicali’s taxi fleet was an early adopter of PEVs and had experienced some challenges—mostly related to the insufficient range of the taxis due to hot weather.

Authors: Johnson, C.; Nanayakkara, S.; Cappellucci, J.; Moniot, M.

Two Trillion Gallons: Fuel Savings from Fuel Economy Improvements to US Light-Duty Vehicles, 1975-2018

4/25/2020

The article includes the following highlights. Fuel economy of new light-duty vehicles in the US almost doubled from 1975 to 2018. MPG gains on regulatory tests yielded proportional on-road improvements. This saved 2 trillion gallons of gasoline and 17 billion tonnes of CO2. Fuel economy and ghg standards drove about 4/5 of the fuel savings. Indirect impacts, e.g. rebound effect, were relatively small.

Authors: Greene, D. L.; Sims, C. B.; Muratori, M.

Charging Infrastructure Requirements to Support Electric Ride-Hailing in U.S. Cities

3/24/2020

This working paper assesses the charging infrastructure needs to support the growth of electric ride-hailing in U.S. cities. The analysis quantifies the amount and type of infrastructure needed and specifically analyzes the extent to which electric ride-hailing fleets can take advantage of underutilized public charging infrastructure capacity.

Authors: Nicholas, M.; Slowik, P.; Lutsey, N.

Notes:

This copyrighted publication can be accessed on The International Council on Clean Transportation's website.

Insights on Electric Trucks for Retailers and Trucking Companies

2/28/2020

The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) has partnered with the Retail Industry Leaders Association, Atlas Public Policy, and David Gardiner and Associates to explore the landscape and outlook for electric trucks for freight movement. This joint initiative assesses the market landscape, challenges, and opportunities for electric truck adoption among retailer shippers and their transportation partners.

Authors: Leung, J.; Peace, J.

Assessing Financial Barriers to the Adoption of Electric Trucks

2/20/2020

Medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles (EVs) are a relatively new technology and many freight industry stakeholders lack access to independent analysis to help make informed decisions about electric trucks and charging infrastructure options. This paper assesses the market landscape, challenges, and opportunities for electric truck adoption among major shippers and their transportation partners by performing a total cost of ownership analysis for EVs under a wide range of procurement scenarios and comparing these results with those from an equivalent diesel vehicle procurement.

Authors: Satterfield, C.; Nigro, N.

2017 Bioenergy Industry Status Report

2/20/2020

This report provides a snapshot of the bioenergy industry status at the end of 2017. The report compliments other annual market reports from the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) offices and is supported by DOE's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). The 2017 Bioenergy Industry Status Report focuses on past year data covering multiple dimensions of the bioenergy industry and does not attempt to make future market projections. The report provides a balanced and unbiased assessment of the industry and associated markets. It is openly available to the public and is intended to compliment International Energy Agency and industry reports with a focus on DOE stakeholder needs.

Authors: Moriarty, K.; Milbrandt, A.; Lewis, J.; Schwab, A.

Focus Forward: 2020 Ethanol Industry Outlook

2/3/2020

RFA's Ethanol Industry Outlook is an annual publication for information on America's ethanol industry. It provides thoughtful analysis of current issues facing the industry, along with current facts and statistics about the production and use of fuel ethanol.

Notes:

This copyrighted publication can be accessed on the Renewable Fuels Association website.

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.

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.

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.