Plugged In: How Americans Charge Their Electric Vehicles: Findings from the Largest Plug-in Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Demonstration in the World

One of the most commonly cited barriers to plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) adoption is the need for places for PEV drivers to plug in their vehicles. How many and what kind of charging stations are needed? Where and how often do PEV drivers charge? To answer these questions, the U.S. Department of Energy launched The EV Project and the ChargePoint America project. Combined, these projects form the largest PEV infrastructure demonstration in the world. Between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2013, this combined project installed nearly 17,000 alternating current (AC) Level 2 charging stations for residential and commercial use and over 100 dual-port direct current (DC) fast chargers in 22 regions across the United States. More than 8,000 privately owned Nissan Leafs and Chevrolet Volts and more than 300 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive vehicles in Car2Go car-sharing fleets were enrolled in the project. This project was not just about installing charging infrastructure; the purpose was to build a living laboratory to study its use and learn. To accomplish this, Idaho National Laboratory partnered with the Blink Network, ChargePoint, General Motors and OnStar, Nissan North America, and Car2Go to collect and analyze data from the electric vehicle charging stations and vehicles enrolled in the project. Data collected from vehicles and charging infrastructure over the 3-year project period captured almost 125 million miles of driving and 6 million charging events, providing the most comprehensive view of PEV and charging usage to date. This report summarizes what was learned about PEV driving and charging.

• Record URL:
  https://avt.inl.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/arra/SummaryReport.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Idaho National Laboratory

  Idaho Falls, ID  United States 

  Department of Energy

  1000 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20585
• Publication Date: 2016

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; Tables;
• Pagination: 24p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Consumer preferences; Demonstration projects; Electric vehicle charging; Electric vehicles; Infrastructure
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Energy; Highways; Terminals and Facilities; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01618030
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: INL/EXT-15-35584
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 29 2016 5:01PM