The lack of hydrogen fuel stations is a major barrier to the introduction of hydrogen vehicles. Given the high cost of constructing hydrogen stations, it is desirable to build as few stations as possible while still adequately serving consumers. Although several studies have addressed the general question of how many stations are needed, the literature has been largely silent on how to relate the location of stations to the sufficient number of hydrogen stations. A geographic information system (GIS) provides a tool for evaluating station siting decisions as part of a greater hydrogen network. A GIS model was developed for siting generic hydrogen stations in Sacramento County, California, with the economics of supplying those stations with hydrogen ignored for now. The analysis used average one-way driving time from home or work to a station as a metric to evaluate scenarios. When a network is posited with 30% as many retail fuel stations as now exist, average driving time from home to a station would be 16 s more than it is with the full existing network of stations. With 5% of existing stations supplying hydrogen (or any other alternative fuel), the average driving time to a station could be as little as 4 min in Sacramento County. These estimates assume free-flow traffic; actual times will vary. This modeling approach provides an analytical framework for siting early hydrogen fuel stations. Initial results suggest a few strategically sited stations could be sufficient to satisfy a large number of prospective consumers.

No abstract

The growing market for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) features new models of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) with varying battery sizes and electric driving ranges. How are the various models being used in the real world? A common assumption in PEV impact analysis is that PEV owners will maximize their vehicle's utility by appropriately sizing the battery to their driving needs and by charging their vehicle as much as possible to recover the cost of the vehicle purchase. On the basis of these assumptions, a high correlation between PHEV owner use of the vehicle and the number of plug-in events is expected, and drivers of PHEVs with a small battery are expected to plug in more than do owners of vehicles with a larger battery and similar driving patterns. The assumptions presented are examined through a survey of more than 3,500 PEV owners conducted in California in May and June 2013. The online survey included extensive data on driving and charging behavior using web map questions. Owners of all PEV models on the market, including more than 600 Volts and 800 Prius Plug-Ins, were surveyed. The results show that small-battery PHEV electric vehicle miles traveled are lower than longer-range PHEV or BEV electric vehicle miles traveled not only because of battery size but also because of public charging availability and charging behavior. Higher electric-range PHEV and BEV drivers charge more often and report more charging opportunities in areas where smaller-battery PHEVs could not find chargers.

Agistment is the practice of temporarily moving stock between properties, and is used by pastoralists both to strategically develop their enterprises and as a response to environmental heterogeneities such as variation in rainfall. This paper considers the agistment market in the northern Australian rangelands using the ‘market failure framework’. This form of economic analysis identifies failings in a market, thus, provides a rigorous basis for designing interventions intended to improve market performance. Drawing on interviews with pastoralists from the Dalrymple Shire in Queensland we conclude that, although agistment is widely used, there are several failings in the existing market which are likely to result in overall agistment activity being far less than optimal. The market failure analysis indicates that key issues relate to the lack of a common marketplace, asymmetric information on the characteristics of the other party in an agreement, and a lack of mutual expectations at the outset. Innovations with the potential to overcome these failings, while minimising the transaction costs involved in entering an agistment agreement, are discussed.

Who is buying electric vehicles? Who is buying new cars in general? Is the first group a subset of the second? What are the similarities and differences of the two groups? Can we use hybrid buyers to predict the future plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market? This study explores the characteristics of new car buyer households who purchased a new vehicle in California during 2011-2012 comparing three main populations: internal combustion engine (ICE) buyers, hybrid buyers and PEV buyers. We show that PEV households have different socio-demographic characteristics than ICE buyers with, for example, higher income, higher education, and more new cars while hybrid owners are a middle group with characteristics that fall between those of ICE and PEV owners. We also found differences among PEV buyers. Pure battery electric vehicle (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) households have similar sociodemographic characteristics but they are differentiated by driving characteristics and home location. The PEV market today is based on small number of buyers and small number of potential new car buyers.Targeting the potential car buyers can more rapidly increase the market, create a used market and will open PEV options to larger segments of the population.

No abstract

As a follow-up analysis to two station siting analyses completed by the authors for the California Hydrogen Highway Network, this report takes a closer look at the regional differences between the four main metropolitan areas in California: Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Sacramento Metropolitan Area, and the San Diego Metropolitan Area. The purpose of this analysis is twofold: to generate a general model to assess hydrogen needs in different regions, and to apply the model to compare its results with the California Hydrogen Highways report. In the Hydrogen Highways report, the number of stations needed was determined by the percentage of the population in each region. In the analysis that follows, average driving time to the nearest station (convenience metric) is used to determine the number of stations necessary for each region. By using convenience to determine the share of stations, regions that are less dense will be served as well as those regions with high density. In our analysis, we examine varying average driving times to the nearest station. The results suggest that the percentage of stations needed to meet a convenience target differs among regions depending on density. For example, a four minute average travel time in Sacramento requires 7.2 percent of stations, whereas only 3.3 percent is required in Los Angeles. The prediction equation developed predicts station needs depending on population density, and a desired level of convenience, and, noting the caveats explained in the paper, can be applied to any region.

Popular media and even researchers commonly assume that ownership of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) provides consumers less performance and mobility than consumers expect. A common claim is that consumers have constant worry about the range of their BEVs, often termed “range anxiety.” BMW converted 450 Mini Coopers to all-electric drive (named the Mini E) and leased them to fleets and 235 private households in the Los Angeles, California, and New York–New Jersey regions from spring 2009 to spring 2010. Through the course of the 1-year lease, University of California, Davis (UCD), researchers conducted multiple online surveys and in-person interviews and administered weeklong driving diaries. This paper explores the reactions of Mini E drivers to the driving distance of the Mini E through the framework of a lifestyle learning process. Over time, Mini E drivers learned how the 104-mi range of the Mini E fit into their lifestyles. Drivers adapted and explored with their Mini E through activities such as altering driving behavior (such as speed and trip routes), optimizing charging opportunities, planning trips, and educating themselves on distances to destinations with the help of online and mobile mapping tools. In the course of the UCD Mini E consumer study, researchers found evidence suggesting that the driving range was not a major concern for these early adopters. Even with no public charging available to their vehicle, 100% of survey respondents stated that BEVs were suitable for daily use. The results of this study will be of interest to policy makers and practitioners interested in expanding the BEV market.