The plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) has a long history. In 1900, 28 percent of the passenger cars sold in the United States were electric, and about one-third of the cars on the road in New York City, Boston, and Chicago were electric. Then, however, mass production of an inexpensive gasoline-powered vehicle, invention of the electric starter for the gasoline vehicle, a supply of affordable gasoline, and development of the national highway system, which allowed long-distance travel, led to the demise of those first PEVs. In the 1970s and 1990s, interest in PEVs resurfaced, but the vehicles simply could not compete with gasoline-powered ones. In the last few years, interest in PEVs has been reignited because of advances in battery and other technologies, new federal standards for carbon-dioxide emissions and fuel economy, state zero-emission-vehicle requirements, and the current administration’s goal of putting millions of alternative- fuel vehicles on the road. People are also beginning to recognize the advantages of PEVs over conventional vehicles, such as lower operating costs, smoother operation, and better acceleration; the ability to fuel up at home; and zero tailpipe emissions when the vehicle operates solely on its battery. There are, however, barriers to PEV deployment, including the vehicle cost, the short all-electric driving range, the long battery-charging time, uncertainties about battery life, the few choices of vehicle models, and the need for a charging infrastructure to support PEVs whether at home, at work, or in a public space. Moreover, many people are still not aware of or do not fully understand the new technology. Given those recognized barriers to PEV deployment, Congress asked the Department of Energy (DOE) to commission a study by the National Academies to address market barriers that are slowing the purchase of PEVs and hindering the deployment of supporting infrastructure. Accordingly, the National Research Council (NRC), an arm of the National Academies, appointed the Committee on Overcoming Barriers to Electric-Vehicle Deployment, which prepared this report. The committee’s analysis was to be provided in two reports–a short interim report and a final comprehensive report. The committee’s interim report, released in May 2013, provided an initial discussion of infrastructure needs for PEVs, barriers to deploying the infrastructure, and possible roles for the federal government in overcoming the barriers. It did not offer any recommendations because the committee was still in the early stages of gathering data. The current report is the committee’s final comprehensive report that addresses its full statement of task, which can be found in Chapter 1. This report focuses on light-duty vehicles (passenger cars and light-duty trucks) in the United States and restricts its discussion to PEVs, which include battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). The common feature of these vehicles is that they can charge their batteries by plugging into the electric grid. The distinction between them is that BEVs operate solely on electricity stored in the battery (there is no other energy source), and PHEVs have an internal-combustion engine (ICE) that can supplement the electric power train or charge the battery during a trip. PHEVs can use engines powered by various fuels, but this report focuses on those powered by gasoline because they are the ones currently available in the United States. The premise of the committee’s task is that there is a benefit to the United States if a higher fraction of miles is fueled by electricity rather than by petroleum. Two reasons for this benefit are commonly assumed. First, a higher fraction of miles fueled by electricity would reduce the U.S. dependence on petroleum. Second, a higher fraction of miles fueled by electricity would reduce carbon dioxide and other air pollutants emitted into the atmosphere. The committee was not asked to research or evaluate the premise, but it did consider whether the premise was valid now and into the future and asked if any recent developments might call the premise into question. First, a PEV uses no petroleum when it runs on electricity. Furthermore, the electricity that fuels the vehicle is generated using essentially no petroleum; in 2013, less than 0.7 percent of the U.S. grid electricity was produced from petroleum. Thus, PEVs advance the long-term objective of U.S. energy independence and security. Second, on average, a PEV fueled by electricity is now responsible for less greenhouse gases (GHGs) per mile than an ICE vehicle3 or a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). PEVs will make further reductions in GHG emissions as the U.S. electric grid changes to lower carbon sources for its electricity. Therefore, the committee concludes that the premise for the task–that there is an advantage to the United States if a higher fraction of miles driven here are fueled by electricity from the U.S. electric grid–is valid now and becomes even more valid each year that the United States continues to reduce the GHGs that it produces in generating electricity. A more detailed discussion of the committee’s analysis of the near-term and long-term impacts of PEV deployment on petroleum consumption and GHG emissions is provided in Chapter 1 of this report. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting