The need for alternative and renewable transportation fuels continues to be high on the nation's agenda. Substituting these fuels for petroleum can reduce dependence on foreign oil imports, improve air quality, and mitigate greenhouse gases. Renewable fuels offer the same advantages as...

Battery fast charging is one of the most significant and difficult techniques affecting the commercialization of electric vehicles (EVs). In this paper, we propose a fast charge framework based on model predictive control, with the aim of simultaneously reducing the charge duration, which...

Hybrid power systems, formed by combining high-energy-density batteries and high-power-density ultracapacitors in appropriate ways, provide high-performance and high-efficiency power systems for electric vehicle applications. This paper first establishes dynamic models for the ultracapacitor,...

Previous studies of the potential market for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have reached contradictory conclusions. What they share are untested or implausible assumptions about consumer response to new transportation technology. We frame the BEV purchase decision in terms of a household's...

Vehicle fleets are a poorly understood part of the economy. They are important, though, in that they purchase a large share of light-duty vehicles and are often targeted by governments as agents of change. We investigate fleet purchase behavior, using focus groups, interviews, and mail and...

The California economy is in the doldrums, especially in the Los Angeles region, owing in large part to the decline of aerospace-defense industries. The region also suffers from the nation's worst pollution problem, owing largely to its dependence on automobiles. So, we're led to ask whether...

China has promoted the use of electric vehicles vigorously since 2009; the program is still in its pilot phase. This study investigates the development of electric vehicle use in China from the perspectives of energy consumption and greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. Energy consumption and GHG...

It is widely accepted that electrification of the transport sector is one of several technological trajectories that could redress some of the environmental issues associated with the growth in travel demand including climate change and oil demand at a global scale, and air quality and noise...