Neighbourhood Electric Vehicles in Mature Suburbs

This is a Report on the first phase of a demonstration of Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) in the South Bay Subregion of Los Angeles County. The project is sponsored by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) and funded by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD). Active use of the first demonstration phase began May 1, 2010 and ran for 18 months ending October 31, 2011. This Report, based on the 18 months of data collection and analysis, aims to identify the positive role NEVs can play in addressing the following issues:
• Reducing green house gas emissions, criteria air pollutants, and consumption of fossil fuels by passenger vehicles and light trucks.
• Informing government plans and policies currently being formulated, including the 2012 Regional Transportation Plan, California Energy Commission’s initiative for electric vehicle readiness, and the California Air Resources Board AB 118 vehicle voucher program.
• Implementing the Sustainable South Bay Strategy with its mobility initiative based on transitioning the gasoline fueled passenger vehicle fleet to some form of electric vehicle. Because this study is extremely data rich, a very detailed and scientific analysis has been completed for a somewhat small sample size of 29 participating households. From these findings it is clear that significant GHG and criteria air pollutant reductions could be achieved from wide spread use of NEVs for suburban residential driving. This research has also identified numerous market barriers that prevent wide spread adoption of NEVs as well as strategies to overcome market barriers such as production quality, speed limitations, and NEV prices.