Since car buyers have limited experience with fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), direct study of FCV adoption is not feasible. However, consumer behavior toward other types of electric-drive vehicles may offer clues about how the market for FCVs will develop. Research on owners of hybrid-electric...

Previous studies of the potential market for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from different research streams have failed to converge on a single, robust estimate. What these previous research streams share are untested or implausible assumptions about consumer response to new transportation...

This report describes employee travel in Yosemite National Park. More specifically, it describes the travel undertaken by employees as it relates to their roles as employees. Thus, commuting to work, personal stops made in conjunction with commute trips, trips made to complete work-related...

This report provides an introduction to semiotics: the study of symbols and symbol systems. In particular, the report focuses on the symbolic meaning of automobiles, and explores why this meaning is important to consumers. Section 1 defines what a symbol is, identifies the types of symbols, and...

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) have image, or symbolic benefits, in addition to their functionality. This study examines the images that ten HEV–owning households saw in their vehicles, and the impact symbolic benefits had on these consumers’ decisions to purchase HEVs. In...

This study of visitor bicycle use is part of a larger data collection effort conducted in Yosemite National Park during the summer of 1999. In addition to this study, the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis (ITS-Davis) also studied employees’ of the...

Will people recharge a vehicle that does not have to be recharged? This, and the degree to which plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) designs emphasize gasoline or electricity, are central to assessing the energy and environmental effects of PHEVs. Plug-in conversions of hybrid vehicles are...

This report discusses the development of advanced batteries for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) applications. We discuss the basic design concepts of PHEVs, compare three sets of influential technical goals, and explain the inherent trade-offs in PHEV battery design. We then discuss the...

The notion persists that battery technology and cost remain as barriers to commercialization of electric-drive passenger vehicles. Within the context of starting a market for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), we explore two aspects of the purported problem: (1) PHEV performance goals and...