The UC Berkeley Transportation Sustainability Research Center conducts an evaluation of the BMW USA ChargeForward program.
In order to further optimize the charging experience and help alleviate strain on local electrical grids, BMW USA announced it is expanding its ChargeForward incentive program to EV and PHEV drivers throughout the contiguous United States. The national...
Susan Shaheen, PhD, John Wright, and Daniel Sperling
2002
To reduce transportation emissions and energy consumption, policy makers typically employ one of two approaches-changing technology or changing behavior. These strategies include demand management tools, such as ridesharing and vehicle control technologies that involve cleaner fuels and fuel economy. Despite the benefits of a combined policy approach, these strategies are normally employed separately. Nevertheless, they have been linked occasionally, for instance in the electric station car programs of the 1990s. Station cars are vehicles used by transit riders at the start or end of...
California’s promising market for the widespread introduction of plug‐in vehicles exists due to advances in electric‐drive technology such as lithium‐ion batteries and the development of strong policy drivers including California’s Global Warming Solutions Act. However, high battery costs continue to present a significant hurdle to commercialization. This report builds upon previous research that examined the potential to lower battery lease payments by repurposing used vehicle batteries for stationary use as distributed electrical storage devices to support the grid. Such devices might...
Timothy Lipman, UC Berkeley Transportation Sustainability Research Center Co-Director discusses electric vehicle technology with the San Francisco Chronicle.
Current technology allows an electric vehicle battery to power a home for up to three...
Jessica Lazarus, Gordon Bauer, Jeffery Greenblatt, Susan Shaheen
2021
This research investigates strategies to improve the mobility of low-income travelers by incentivizing the use of electric SAVs (SAEVs) and public transit. We employ two agent-based simulation engines, an activity-based travel demand model of the San Francisco Bay Area, and vehicle movement data from the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles Basin to model emergent travel behavior of commute trips in response to subsidies for TNCs and public transit. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the impacts of different subsidy scenarios on mode choices, TNC pooling and match...
Climated change is rapidly becoming known as a tangible issue that must be addressed to avoid major environmental consequences in the future. Recent change in public opinion has been caused by the physical signs of climate change–melting glaciers, rising sea levels, more severe storm and drought events, and hotter average global temperatures annually. Transportation is a major contributor of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, accounting for approximately 14 percent of total anthropogenic emissions globally and about 27 percent in the U.S....
Elliot Martin, Susan Shaheen, PhD, Timothy Lipman, PhD, and Jeffrey Lidicker
2009
Over the last several decades, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) have emerged as a zero tailpipe-emission alternative to the battery electric vehicle (EV). To address questions about consumer reaction to FCVs, this report presents the results of a “ride-and-drive” clinic series (n=182) held in 2007 with a Mercedes-Benz A-Class “F-Cell” hydrogen FCV. The clinic evaluated participant reactions to driving and riding in an FCV, as well as vehicle refueling. Pre-and post clinic surveys assessed consumer response. More than 80% left with a positive overall impression of hydrogen. The...
Tai Stillwater, Patricia Mokhtarian, and Susan Shaheen, PhD
2009
The use of carsharing vehicles over a period of 16 months in 2006-07 was compared to built environment and demographic factors in this GIS-based multivariate regression study of an urban U.S. carsharing operator. Carsharing is a relatively new transportation industry in which companies provide members with short-term vehicle access from distributed neighborhood locations. The number of registered carsharing members in North America has doubled every year or two to a current level of approximately 320,000. Researchers have long supposed that public transit access is a key factor...
Jeffrey Lidicker, Timothy Lipman, PhD, and Susan Shaheen, PhD
2010
This study examines the relative economics of electric vehicle operation in the context of current electricity rates in specific utility service territories. The authors examined 14 utility territories offering electric vehicle (EV) rates, focusing on California but also including other regions of theUnited States. The consumer costs of EV charging were examined in comparison with gasoline price data, geographic location, and during three highly variable gasoline price periods of July 2008, January 2009, and July 2009. In a switch from a conventional 23 mile per gallon (10.2liters/...
Brian Turner, Richard Plevin, Michael O'Hare, and Alexander Farrell
2007
This study describes how some biofuels are produced, emphasizing agricultural production systems, and considers what is needed in order to measure and communicate environmental performance, and gives examples of how this might be done. We describe a set of seven uses of a Green Biofuels Index, from a wholly market-driven implementation through a set of increasingly intrusive regulatory approaches. We then present several case studies of specific biofuel production pathways using a lifecycle analysis of the inputs to feedstock production and processing, but excluding market-mediated effects...
