The Dollars – and Sense – of EV Smart Charging: Thinking Through the Options for Utility Integration of Electric Vehicles

Utilities that don’t prepare to integrate EVSEs into their distribution networks are likely to incur unplanned costs and grid reliability problems, as well as be perceived as a bottleneck to EV adoption. Consequently, utilities should proactively assess how they will manage the adoption and charging of EVs within their service territories. When evaluating different EV integration options, utilities will need to consider variables such as who owns the EVSE, who owns the meter used for EVSE billing, and how electricity rates can influence consumers’ EV charging behavior.…

Contribution of Li-Ion Batteries to the Environmental Impact of Electric Vehicles

Battery-powered electric cars (BEVs) play a key role in future mobility scenarios. However, little is known about the environmental impacts of the production, use and disposal of the lithium ion (Li-ion) battery. This makes it difficult to compare the environmental impacts of BEVs with those of internal combustion engine cars (ICEVs). Consequently, a detailed lifecycle inventory of a Li-ion battery and a rough LCA of BEV based mobility were compiled. The study shows that the environmental burdens of mobility are dominated by the operation phase regardless of whether a gasoline-fueled ICEV or a European electricity fueled BEV is used. The …

Transitions to Alternative Transportation Technologies–Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

The nation has compelling reasons to reduce its consumption of oil and emissions of carbon dioxide. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) promise to contribute to both goals by allowing some miles to be driven on electricity drawn from the grid, with an internal combustion engine that kicks in when the batteries are discharged. However, while battery technology has made great strides in recent years, batteries are still very expensive.

This report builds on a 2008 National Research Council (NRC) report on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs).…

Transitions to Alternative Transportation Technologies–Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

The nation has compelling reasons to reduce its consumption of oil and emissions of carbon dioxide. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) promise to contribute to both goals by allowing some miles to be driven on electricity drawn from the grid, with an internal combustion engine that kicks in when the batteries are discharged. However, while battery technology has made great strides in recent years, batteries are still very expensive.

This report builds on a 2008 National Research Council (NRC) report on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs).…

Addendum to ‘An innovation and policy agenda for commercially competitive plug-in hybrid electric vehicles’

This addendum adds to the analysis of ‘An innovation and policy agenda for commercially competitive plug-in hybrid electric vehicles’ (D M Lemoine et al 2008 Environ. Res. Lett. 3 014003) to the case of all-electric vehicles (EVs). We pay particular attention to grid impacts, break-even battery costs, and the three ways in which EVs could dramatically change the results we obtained for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).…

Cost-Effectiveness of Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions from Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Cars and light trucks in the United States consume about 8 million barrels of gasoline per day, which is more than the total amount of petroleum produced in the United States and accounts for 18 percent of national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Consumption and emissions have been rising at about 1.5 percent per year.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles could alter these trends. On a vehicle technology spectrum that stretches from fossil fuel–powered conventional vehicles (CVs) through hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) to all-electric vehicles (AEVs), PHEVs fall between the latter two types: they can run either in gasoline-fueled hybrid electric mode …

An innovation and policy agenda for commercially competitive plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) can use both grid-supplied electricity and liquid fuels. We show that under recent conditions, millions of PHEVs could have charged economically in California during both peak and off-peak hours even with modest gasoline prices and real-time electricity pricing. Special electricity rate tariffs already in place for electric vehicles could successfully render on-peak charging uneconomical and off-peak charging very attractive. However, unless battery prices fall by at least a factor of two, or gasoline prices double, the present value of fuel savings is smaller than the marginal vehicle costs, likely slowing PHEV market penetration in California. …

High-Temporal-Resolution Dataset of Uni-, Didirectional, and Dynamic Electric Vehicle Charging Profiles

The transition to Electric Vehicles (EVs) introduces challenges for power grid integration, particularly due to the growing demand for charging infrastructure. To support research on smart charging strategies and bidirectional charging applications, this study presents an open-access dataset containing 142 EV charging profiles obtained in a laboratory environment. The dataset includes static charging and discharging scenarios alongside dynamic profiles where the charging power is varied over time. These scenarios are applied to eight commercially available EVs, three of which support bidirectional charging. It features tests in alternating current and direct current charging modes and includes high-resolution time series of grid …

Electrification Pathways for U.S. Passenger Vehicles

As electric vehicle (EV) adoption continues to accelerate, we explore the implications of different adoption trajectories that achieve a full transition to EVs by 2050 for U.S. light-duty passenger vehicles (LDVs). Using a vetted transportation system model, we find that achieving 100% EV sales by 2040 would decrease tailpipe greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 90% between 2022 and 2050, leaving about 45 million gasoline vehicles on the road. Achieving 100% sales by 2035, tailpipe emissions decrease 93%, with about 28 million gasoline vehicles on the road in 2050 (9% of stock). Slower EV adoption, reaching 100% sales by 2045, would result …

Second-Life Electric Vehicle Batteries in Mobile Charging Systems

As electric vehicle (EV) adoption accelerates, mobile charging systems are emerging as a fast, flexible complement to fixed stations. This briefing paper examines how repurposed EV batteries can slash costs, ease supply-chain pressure, and cut carbon while bringing chargers to remote, disaster-stricken, or high-demand locations.

Drawing on market scans and use-case analysis, we found that second-life batteries (SLBs) can cost as little as 25 percent of an equivalent new pack, unlocking mobile systems that are cheaper to build and deploy. With up to 40 GWh of retired EV batteries expected to be available in the United States by 2030, SLBs …