Full Title: Charging Infrastructure Challenges for the U.S. Electric Vehicle Fleet
Author(s): Jeffrey Short, Alexandra Shirk, Alexa Pupillo
Publisher(s): American Transportation Research Institute
Publication Date: January 4, 2023
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
This report provides an assessment of the infrastructure needs for electrification of the U.S. vehicle fleet, with an emphasis on the trucking industry. This analysis will focus on three infrastructure components that may prove challenging for electrifying the nation’s vehicle fleet: electricity infrastructure; the infrastructure that supports battery production for electric vehicles;
and the charging infrastructure.
Transportation, which last decade overtook the electric utility sector’s place as the largest emitter of CO2, has also been in the process of shifting to new energy sources to decrease its carbon footprint. In recent decades, these alternatives have
included ethanol and biodiesel among others. Another alternative energy option for vehicles is electricity. Overall, electricity has lower CO2 emissions during trucking operations than diesel or gasoline. That said, electric vehicles require large lithium-ion batteries; the production of these batteries has a much higher carbon footprint than does production of a traditional internal combustion engine (ICE).
This report analyzes the status of each of the interdependent challenges facing national vehicle electrification, particularly for trucks. It is the intent of this research to help trucking industry stakeholders better understand the short- and long-term realities of industry-wide electrification.