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Integrating electric vehicles and residential solar PV

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  • Coffman, Makena
  • Bernstein, Paul
  • Wee, Sherilyn

Abstract

This study compares the lifecycle costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of electric vehicle (EV) ownership to that of other popular and similar cars in Hawaii. It focuses on the interaction of EV costs with Hawaii's rapid solar PV uptake, using a scenario planning approach for future fuel and electricity prices. EVs include battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). We find that the total cost of ownership (TCO) of EVs tends to be higher than their internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) or hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) counterparts. Once accounting for the federal tax credit, however, some EVs become relatively cost-effective. Moreover, access to residential solar PV makes EVs quite attractive. Layering the federal EV subsidy with solar PV charging makes the full lifecycle cost of the Nissan Leaf about $1200 less expensive than the next lowest cost vehicle, the Toyota Corolla (over a 150,000-mile lifetime). Nonetheless, it may be too early to tout EVs in Hawaii as a GHG abatement strategy. Based on today's mix of electricity generation, the best performing PHEV and BEV emit 2 and 5 MTCO2, respectively, more over their lifetime than the best performing HEV. However, many EVs become on par with the high performing HEVs when considering Hawaii's adoption of aggressive renewable energy goals for the electric sector. If the electric sector meets its 2030 Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) target of 40% renewables through low carbon sources like wind and solar, the Toyota Plug-in Prius, Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius become comparable in terms of their GHG impacts. Integrating residential solar PV, even for just weekend charging, makes all EVs outperform the Toyota Prius in regards to lifetime GHG emissions. In addition, at this level of charging from renewable sources of electricity, all BEVs now outperform PHEVs. The environmental benefits of EVs depend critically on the electricity system from which they derive their power. Given the wide variation in the mix of electricity generation throughout the U.S., and even throughout the day with the adoption of intermittent sources of renewable energy, additional policy tools are needed to match places and times with high levels of renewables with EV charging. In particular, we suggest that 1) a regional approach to EV subsidies that can account for the emissions intensity of electricity systems may be more appropriate than the current blunt federal tax credit; and 2) adoption of time-of-use pricing that accounts for GHG impacts may be critical to supporting EVs as a GHG abatement tool. Currently, however, EVs are a relatively costly GHG abatement strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Coffman, Makena & Bernstein, Paul & Wee, Sherilyn, 2017. "Integrating electric vehicles and residential solar PV," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 30-38.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:53:y:2017:i:c:p:30-38
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2016.08.008
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Lawrence Fulton & Bradley Beauvais & Matthew Brooks & Scott Kruse & Kimberly Lee, 2020. "Sustainable Residential Building Considerations for Rural Areas: A Case Study," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-25, May.
    2. Palm, A., 2020. "Early adopters and their motives: Differences between earlier and later adopters of residential solar photovoltaics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    3. Barone, Giovanni & Buonomano, Annamaria & Forzano, Cesare & Giuzio, Giovanni Francesco & Palombo, Adolfo, 2020. "Increasing self-consumption of renewable energy through the Building to Vehicle to Building approach applied to multiple users connected in a virtual micro-grid," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 1165-1176.
    4. Zou, Wenke & Sun, Yongjun & Gao, Dian-ce & Zhang, Xu & Liu, Junyao, 2023. "A review on integration of surging plug-in electric vehicles charging in energy-flexible buildings: Impacts analysis, collaborative management technologies, and future perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    5. Wee, Sherilyn & Coffman, Makena & Allen, Scott, 2020. "EV driver characteristics: Evidence from Hawaii," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 33-40.
    6. Figueiredo, Raquel & Nunes, Pedro & Brito, Miguel C., 2017. "The feasibility of solar parking lots for electric vehicles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 1182-1197.
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    8. Hoarau, Quentin & Perez, Yannick, 2018. "Interactions between electric mobility and photovoltaic generation: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 510-522.
    9. de Souza Dutra, Michael David & da Conceição Júnior, Gerson & de Paula Ferreira, William & Campos Chaves, Matheus Roberto, 2020. "A customized transition towards smart homes: A fast framework for economic analyses," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    10. Buonomano, Annamaria, 2020. "Building to Vehicle to Building concept: A comprehensive parametric and sensitivity analysis for decision making aims," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    11. Kumar Sunil & Jayaswal, Sachin & Garg, Amit, 2018. "Charging infrastructure optimization for electric buses using mixed integer linear programming," IIMA Working Papers WP 2018-12-03, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    12. Barone, Giovanni & Buonomano, Annamaria & Forzano, Cesare & Giuzio, Giovanni Francesco & Palombo, Adolfo & Russo, Giuseppe, 2022. "Energy virtual networks based on electric vehicles for sustainable buildings: System modelling for comparative energy and economic analyses," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    13. Lawrence Fulton, 2020. "A Publicly Available Simulation of Battery Electric, Hybrid Electric, and Gas-Powered Vehicles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-15, May.
    14. Wojciech Cieslik & Filip Szwajca & Wojciech Golimowski & Andrew Berger, 2021. "Experimental Analysis of Residential Photovoltaic (PV) and Electric Vehicle (EV) Systems in Terms of Annual Energy Utilization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-21, February.
    15. Sónia Almeida Neves & António Cardoso Marques & José Alberto Fuinhas, 2018. "Could alternative energy sources in the transport sector decarbonise the economy without compromising economic growth?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 23-40, December.
    16. Neves, Sónia Almeida & Marques, António Cardoso & Fuinhas, José Alberto, 2017. "Is energy consumption in the transport sector hampering both economic growth and the reduction of CO2 emissions? A disaggregated energy consumption analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 64-70.
    17. Almeida Neves, Sónia & Cardoso Marques, António & Alberto Fuinhas, José, 2019. "Technological progress and other factors behind the adoption of electric vehicles: Empirical evidence for EU countries," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 28-39.
    18. Aritra Ghosh, 2020. "Possibilities and Challenges for the Inclusion of the Electric Vehicle (EV) to Reduce the Carbon Footprint in the Transport Sector: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-22, May.
    19. Gu, Gaofeng & Feng, Tao, 2020. "Heterogeneous choice of home renewable energy equipment conditioning on the choice of electric vehicles," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 394-403.
    20. Eltoumi, Fouad M. & Becherif, Mohamed & Djerdir, Abdesslem & Ramadan, Haitham.S., 2021. "The key issues of electric vehicle charging via hybrid power sources: Techno-economic viability, analysis, and recommendations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    21. Mazzeo, Domenico, 2019. "Nocturnal electric vehicle charging interacting with a residential photovoltaic-battery system: a 3E (energy, economic and environmental) analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 310-331.
    22. Ross C. Beppler & Daniel C. Matisoff & Matthew E. Oliver, 2023. "Electricity consumption changes following solar adoption: Testing for a solar rebound," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(1), pages 58-81, January.
    23. Yu, Hyun Jin Julie, 2021. "System contributions of residential battery systems: New perspectives on PV self-consumption," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    24. Gaofeng Gu & Xiaofeng Pan, 2023. "A Study on the Interdependence in Sustainable Mobility Tools and Home Energy Equipment Choices," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-16, January.
    25. O'Shaughnessy, Eric & Cutler, Dylan & Ardani, Kristen & Margolis, Robert, 2018. "Solar plus: A review of the end-user economics of solar PV integration with storage and load control in residential buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 2165-2175.

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