Plug-in-Hybrid Vehicle Use, Energy Consumption, and Greenhouse Emissions: An Analysis of Household Vehicle Placements in Northern California

Brett Williams, Elliot Martin, Timothy Lipman and Daniel Kammen
Additional contact information
Brett Williams: Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC), University of California, Berkeley, 2150 Allston Way #280, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Elliot Martin: Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC), University of California, Berkeley, 2150 Allston Way #280, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Timothy Lipman: Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC), University of California, Berkeley, 2150 Allston Way #280, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Daniel Kammen: Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC), University of California, Berkeley, 2150 Allston Way #280, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA

Energies, 2011, vol. 4, issue 3, 1-23

Abstract: We report on the real-world use over the course of one year of a nickel-metal-hydride plug-in hybrid—the Toyota Plug-In HV—by a set of 12 northern California households able to charge at home and work. From vehicle use data, energy and greenhouse-emissions implications are also explored. A total of 1557 trips—most using under 0.5 gallons of gasoline—ranged up to 2.4 hours and 133 miles and averaged 14 minutes and 7 miles. 399 charging events averaged 2.6 hours. The maximum lasted 4.6 hours. Most recharges added less than 1.4 kWh, with a mean charge of 0.92 kWh. The average power drawn was under one-half kilowatt. The greenhouse gas emissions from driving and charging were estimated to be 2.6 metric tons, about half of the emissions expected from a 22.4-mpg vehicle (the MY2009 fleet-wide real-world average). The findings contribute to better understanding of how plug-in hybrids might be used, their potential impact, and how potential benefits and requirements vary for different plug-in-vehicle designs. For example, based on daily driving distances, 20 miles of charge-depleting range would have been fully utilized on 81% of days driven, whereas 40 miles would not have been fully utilized on over half of travel days.

Keywords: plug-in hybrid; electric drive; charging; energy use; greenhouse gas emissions; household driving behavior; real world data; alternative fuel; battery size; fuel consumption (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: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/4/3/435/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/4/3/435/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:4:y:2011:i:3:p:435-457:d:11582

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().