IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i10p4263-d1397291.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Battery Electric Vehicles: Travel Characteristics of Early Adopters

Author

Listed:
  • Yunwen Feng

    (Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA)

  • Jean-Daniel Saphores

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA)

  • Hilary Nixon

    (Mineta Transportation Institute, San José State University, San Jose, CA 95192, USA)

  • Monica Ramirez Ibarra

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA)

Abstract

Do U.S. households with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) drive less or more than U.S. households with internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs)? Answering this question is important to policymakers and transportation planners concerned with reducing vehicle miles traveled and the emissions of greenhouse gases from transportation. So far, this question has not been answered satisfactorily, possibly because of the relatively low number of EVs in the U.S. until recently, but also because of methodological issues. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap by analyzing data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). We apply propensity score matching (PSM), a quasi-experimental method, to examine the differences in self-reported annual mileage and calculated daily mileage for various trip purposes among households with only BEVs (BEV-only), households with both BEVs and ICEVs (BEV+), and households without BEVs (non-BEV households). Our findings indicate that households with BEVs drive fewer annual miles than non-BEV households, but typically travel no less than they do for daily activities. This apparent discrepancy is likely due to taking fewer longer trips because the public charging infrastructure was still in its infancy in 2017, and its reliability was questionable. As technological progress is helping to overcome current battery limitations, policymakers may consider measures for fostering fast charging technologies while pondering new measures to fund both the charging infrastructure and the road network.

Suggested Citation

  • Yunwen Feng & Jean-Daniel Saphores & Hilary Nixon & Monica Ramirez Ibarra, 2024. "Battery Electric Vehicles: Travel Characteristics of Early Adopters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-23, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:10:p:4263-:d:1397291
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/10/4263/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/10/4263/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tal, Gil & Nicholas, Michael A. & Woodjack, Justin & Scrivano, Daniel, 2013. "Who Is Buying Electric Cars in California? Exploring Household and Vehicle Fleet Characteristics of New Plug-In Vehicle Owners," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt70f4r9wc, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    2. Yang, Xiong & Zhuge, Chengxiang & Shao, Chunfu & Huang, Yuantan & Hayse Chiwing G. Tang, Justin & Sun, Mingdong & Wang, Pinxi & Wang, Shiqi, 2022. "Characterizing mobility patterns of private electric vehicle users with trajectory data," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    3. Tal, Gil PhD & Chakraborty, Debapriya PhD & Jenn, Alan PhD & Lee, Jae Hyun PhD & Bunch, David PhD, 2020. "Factors Affecting Demand for Plug-in Charging Infrastructure: An Analysis of Plug-in Electric Vehicle Commuters," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt1jh8127j, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    4. Chao-Yang Wang & Teng Liu & Xiao-Guang Yang & Shanhai Ge & Nathaniel V. Stanley & Eric S. Rountree & Yongjun Leng & Brian D. McCarthy, 2022. "Fast charging of energy-dense lithium-ion batteries," Nature, Nature, vol. 611(7936), pages 485-490, November.
    5. Brady, John & O’Mahony, Margaret, 2016. "Development of a driving cycle to evaluate the energy economy of electric vehicles in urban areas," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 165-178.
    6. White, Lee V. & Sintov, Nicole D., 2017. "You are what you drive: Environmentalist and social innovator symbolism drives electric vehicle adoption intentions," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 94-113.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Srinivasa Raghavan, Seshadri, 2020. "Behavioral Realism of Plug-In Electric Vehicle Usage: Implications for Emission Benefits, Energy Consumption, and Policies," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt1rz000pf, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    2. Peng Cheng & Zhe Ouyang & Yang Liu, 0. "The effect of information overload on the intention of consumers to adopt electric vehicles," Transportation, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-20.
    3. Huang, Youlin & Qian, Lixian, 2021. "Consumer adoption of electric vehicles in alternative business models," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    4. Bossink, Bart A.G., 2017. "Demonstrating sustainable energy: A review based model of sustainable energy demonstration projects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1349-1362.
    5. Felix Hinnüber & Marek Szarucki & Katarzyna Szopik-Depczyńska, 2019. "The Effects of a First-Time Experience on the Evaluation of Battery Electric Vehicles by Potential Consumers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-25, December.
    6. Nicu Bizon & Mircea Raceanu & Emmanouel Koudoumas & Adriana Marinoiu & Emmanuel Karapidakis & Elena Carcadea, 2020. "Renewable/Fuel Cell Hybrid Power System Operation Using Two Search Controllers of the Optimal Power Needed on the DC Bus," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-26, November.
    7. Andriosopoulos, Kostas & Bigerna, Simona & Bollino, Carlo Andrea & Micheli, Silvia, 2018. "The impact of age on Italian consumers' attitude toward alternative fuel vehicles," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 299-308.
    8. Ruyu Xie & Liren An & Nosheena Yasir, 2022. "How Innovative Characteristics Influence Consumers’ Intention to Purchase Electric Vehicle: A Moderating Role of Lifestyle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-24, April.
    9. Salari, Nasir, 2022. "Electric vehicles adoption behaviour: Synthesising the technology readiness index with environmentalism values and instrumental attributes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 60-81.
    10. José I. Huertas & Michael Giraldo & Luis F. Quirama & Jenny Díaz, 2018. "Driving Cycles Based on Fuel Consumption," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-13, November.
    11. Liangui Peng & Ying Li & Hui Yu, 2021. "Effects of Dual Credit Policy and Consumer Preferences on Production Decisions in Automobile Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-19, May.
    12. Ye, Rui-Ke & Gao, Zhuang-Fei & Fang, Kai & Liu, Kang-Li & Chen, Jia-Wei, 2021. "Moving from subsidy stimulation to endogenous development: A system dynamics analysis of China's NEVs in the post-subsidy era," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    13. Emilia M. Szumska & Rafał S. Jurecki, 2021. "Parameters Influencing on Electric Vehicle Range," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-23, August.
    14. Hu, Xianfeng & Wang, Shanyong & Zhou, Rongting & Gao, Lan & Zhu, Zujun, 2023. "Policy driven or consumer trait driven? Unpacking the EVs purchase intention of consumers from the policy and consumer trait perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    15. Yang, Xiong & Peng, Zhenhan & Wang, Pinxi & Zhuge, Chengxiang, 2023. "Seasonal variance in electric vehicle charging demand and its impacts on infrastructure deployment: A big data approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    16. Peng, Ruoqing & Tang, Justin Hayse Chiwing G. & Yang, Xiong & Meng, Meng & Zhang, Jie & Zhuge, Chengxiang, 2024. "Investigating the factors influencing the electric vehicle market share: A comparative study of the European Union and United States," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 355(C).
    17. Crossin, Enda & Doherty, Peter J.B., 2016. "The effect of charging time on the comparative environmental performance of different vehicle types," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 716-726.
    18. Davis, Adam W & Tal, Gil, 2022. "Using the Plug-in Electric Vehicle (PEV) Planning Toolbox to Understand Market Growth in California," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt5v336527, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    19. Zvonimir Dabčević & Branimir Škugor & Jakov Topić & Joško Deur, 2022. "Synthesis of Driving Cycles Based on Low-Sampling-Rate Vehicle-Tracking Data and Markov Chain Methodology," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-21, June.
    20. Liu, Kai & Wang, Jiangbo & Yamamoto, Toshiyuki & Morikawa, Takayuki, 2016. "Modelling the multilevel structure and mixed effects of the factors influencing the energy consumption of electric vehicles," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1351-1360.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:10:p:4263-:d:1397291. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.