California Air Resources Board

Principal Investigator/Author: Gil Tal

Contractor: University of California, Davis

Contract Number: 16RD009

Project Status: Completed

Relevant CARB Programs: Climate Change,  Sustainable Communities & Climate Protection Program

Topic Areas: Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEVs), Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory, Research & Sustainable Communities

Research Summary:

This report combines the results of the current study (16RD009) with a previous study (12-319) that utilized the same methodology but focused on different zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) models. In combination, the studies examined vehicle usage in plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) households throughout California through surveys, vehicle logging, and interviews between 2015-2020. A detailed survey covering vehicle purchase, vehicle fleet, driving and charging behavior, and sociodemographic information was completed by over 13,000 PEV owners. From these survey respondents, 424 households were recruited to participate in the vehicle data collection study, which consisted of installing a data logging device on all household vehicles, including the non-PEVs. The logging study collected driving and refueling behavior on the order of 1 to 10 seconds per parameter for up to a year. From the logged households, 40 were selected to participate in interviews. At the vehicle-level, results indicate that the average percent electric vehicle miles traveled (eVMT) for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) is 14-66 percent, depending on vehicle model. There is a similar large range in the percent eVMT at the household-level for PHEVs studied (4-62 percent) due to miles driven on household internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. PHEV households with more ICE vehicles have a lower percent eVMT. The percent eVMT on battery electric vehicles (BEV) and FCEVs at the vehicle-level is 100 percent (by definition). BEV and FCEV households with at least one ICE vehicle had an eVMT of 33-70 percent and 65 percent, respectively.

Keywords: zero-emission vehicle (ZEV), plug-in electric vehicle (PEV), fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), data logging, fleet, charging, electric vehicle miles traveled (eVMT), internal combustion engine, battery electric vehicle