Folk Quantification of Transportation Energy: An Initial Investigation of Perceptions of Automobile Energy Use
In this paper we seek to document what, if any, divergences exist between how experts and ‘lay’ people conceptualize the energy used in automobiles, motivated by previously-documented divergences in the home energy sector. From a total of 15 interviews with 19 individuals, we identify several common ways ‘lay’ people think about automobile energy use, and draw a number of conclusions relevant to the development of transportation energy policy. Our informants thought of automobile efficiency almost exclusively as fuel economy and were aware of it, albeit based on inconsistent methods and varying degrees of rigor. They measure fuel economy almost exclusively in miles per gallon and demonstrated easy familiarity with this measure—they were very comfortable comparing their present cars with past cars, or with other cars in terms of fuel economy. However, the prevalence of this volumetric, more-is-better measure may present challenges for communication as alternative fuels (e.g. electricity) gain market share because such fuels may not comport with this measure in an intuitive way.
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/434518633
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Corporate Authors:
University of California, Davis
Plug-in Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Research Center, Institute of Transportation Studies
Davis, CA United States 95616 -
Authors:
- Silvis, Julia
- Leighty, Wayne
- Karner, Alex
- Publication Date: 2007-11
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Print
- Features: References; Tables;
- Pagination: 20p
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Serial:
- University of California, Davis. Institute of Transportation Studies. Research report
- Publisher: University of California, Davis
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Consumer behavior; Consumer preferences; Costs; Energy consumption; Fuel consumption; Fuel taxes; Gasoline
- Identifier Terms: Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)
- Subject Areas: Energy; Highways; Vehicles and Equipment; I96: Vehicle Operating Costs;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01147405
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
- Report/Paper Numbers: UCD-ITS-RR-07-22
- Files: BTRIS, TRIS
- Created Date: Dec 29 2009 9:29AM