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Title: Optimizing and Diversifying Electric Vehicle Driving Range for U.S. Drivers

Journal Article · · Transportation Science
 [1]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Properly determining the driving range is critical for accurately predicting the sales and social benefits of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). This study proposes a framework for optimizing the driving range by minimizing the sum of battery price, electricity cost, and range limitation cost referred to as the "range-related cost" as a measurement of range anxiety. The objective function is linked to policy-relevant parameters, including battery cost and price markup, battery utilization, charging infrastructure availability, vehicle efficiency, electricity and gasoline prices, household vehicle ownership, daily driving patterns, discount rate, and perceived vehicle lifetime. Qualitative discussion of the framework and its empirical application to a sample (N=36664) representing new car drivers in the United States is included. The quantitative results strongly suggest that ranges of less than 100 miles are likely to be more popular in the BEV market for a long period of time. The average optimal range among U.S. drivers is found to be largely inelastic. Still, battery cost reduction significantly drives BEV demand toward longer ranges, whereas improvement in the charging infrastructure is found to significantly drive BEV demand toward shorter ranges. In conclusion, the bias of a single-range assumption and the effects of range optimization and diversification in reducing such biases are both found to be significant.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1150369
Journal Information:
Transportation Science, Vol. 48, Issue 4; ISSN 0041-1655
Publisher:
INFORMSCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 58 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (7)

Traffic equilibrium with a continuously distributed bound on travel weights: the rise of range anxiety and mental account journal August 2018
The impact of reliable range estimation on battery electric vehicle feasibility journal November 2019
Planning for electric vehicle needs by coupling charging profiles with urban mobility journal April 2018
Empirical Fuel Consumption and CO 2 Emissions of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles: Fuel Consumption of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles journal July 2017
Transport electrification: the effect of recent battery cost reduction on future emission scenarios journal September 2018
Interaction of consumer preferences and climate policies in the global transition to low-carbon vehicles journal July 2018
Empirical Fuel Consumption and CO₂ Emissions of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles text January 2017