Advancing electric vehicle penetration

The use of battery electric vehicles (BEV) has not seen equal treatment across the US with consumers in non-urban and rural areas reporting themselves as the least likely group to consider purchasing a BEV. Studies show that rural customers are more susceptible to longer daily driving distances, insufficient charging infrastructure, and lower consumer awareness, all of which decrease BEV adoption. To help promote the environmental and economic benefits of BEVs to local residents a case study is carried out in which 13 BEVs and charging stations are deployed across nine small communities in Nebraska State with an average population of 11,600 residents per community. Using local electricity mix and fuel price data, the predicted costs savings for one BEV over a conventional vehicle (CV) are $1,680 to $1,810 per year and the environmental impact is an emission reduction of 2,680 to 2,880 kg of CO₂ per year. Data from the BEVs and charging stations and comparisons to predicted values will be presented in a future version of this paper.