Influence of Battery Energy, Charging Power, and Charging Locations upon EVs’ Ability to Meet Trip Needs

Willett Kempton (), Nathaniel S. Pearre, Randall Guensler and Vetri V. Elango
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Willett Kempton: Center for Research in Wind, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711, USA
Nathaniel S. Pearre: Center for Research in Wind, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711, USA
Randall Guensler: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 790 Atlantic Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Vetri V. Elango: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 790 Atlantic Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 5, 1-23

Abstract: One year of high-resolution driving data from a sample of 333 instrumented gasoline passenger vehicles are used to create a trip inventory of U.S. vehicle travel requirements. A set of electric vehicles (EVs) is modeled, differing in battery size (kWh), recharging power (kW), and locations for charging when parked. Each modeled EV’s remaining energy is tracked while traversing the entire sample’s trip inventory in order to estimate how well each EV meets all U.S. driving requirements. The capital cost of refueling infrastructure is estimated per car, for gasoline and for each analyzed combination of charging station locations. We develop three metrics of the ability of different EV characteristics to meet trip requirements: the percentage of trips successfully met by each modeled EV, the number of days that the driver must “adapt” EV use to meet more demanding trip requirements, and the total driver time required for refueling. We also segment the market of trip patterns per car, finding that 25% to 37% of the vehicle population could meet all their drivers’ trip needs with a smaller-battery EV combined with community charging. This potential combination of EVs and charging would enable lower-price EVs and lower-cost recharging power, and would broaden EV availability to groups for whom today’s EVs and charging configurations are less accessible.

Keywords: electric vehicle; EV; EV range; charging power; light vehicles; travel requirements; EV access equity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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