Authors
Ray Galvin
Publication date
2022/2/1
Journal
Energy Policy
Volume
161
Pages
112746
Publisher
Elsevier
Description
In the US a complete transition to electric vehicles (EVs) would increase demand for carbon-free electricity by around 30% if the future fleet has the same average size, weight and horsepower as current EVs. However, these dimensions for today's EVs are substantially lower than for conventional vehicles, so as EVs replace them, EV's average size, weight and horsepower are likely to increase substantially. Further, major automakers are introducing a new class of very large, powerful “super”-EVs of up to 1000 horsepower. These factors will lead to higher demand for carbon-free electricity. This interdisciplinary paper first examines the social pressure for increasing EV size and power. It then uses data from the 255 EVs tested by the US EPA in 2011–2021, to estimate the effect of increased weight and horsepower on EVs' electricity consumption. It finds that each 1% increase in weight leads to an increase in …
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