In 2010, a large-scale plug-in electric vehicle (PEV)
infrastructure demonstration was launched to deploy an
unprecedented number of PEVs and charging infrastructure. This
demonstration, called The EV Project, is funded by the U.S.
Department of Energy and led by ECOtality North America. ECOtality
has partnered with Nissan North America and General Motors to
deploy up to 8,300 Nissan LEAF™ battery electric vehicles and
Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicles, along with
approximately 14,000 AC Level 2 and DC fast-charging units in 18
metropolitan areas across the United States.
ECOtality and the Idaho National Laboratory partnered to collect
and analyze electronic data from EV Project vehicles and charging
units. An early analysis of data from Nissan LEAFs enrolled in The
EV Project was performed. The data set analyzed came from 2,903
privately owned vehicles, which logged over 10 million driving
miles in 2011. On average, Nissan LEAF drivers drove 6.9 miles per
trip and 30.3 miles per day. Median values were 4.0 and 26.8 miles,
respectively. In environments without many public charging
locations, LEAF drivers averaged 28.8 miles between consecutive
charging events, with a median of 27.1 miles. The average and
median number of times vehicles were charged per day driven were
1.05 and 0.99 charging events per day, respectively.
Analysis of charging location determined that 82% of charging
events were conducted at the project participants' homes using
their residential electric vehicle supply equipment. 18% of
charging events were performed elsewhere. Despite the relatively
low numbers of publicly available charging units, over 70% of
vehicles were charged away from home. Most of those vehicles
charged at many distinct locations, such as shopping centers,
health clubs, restaurants, and business offices. Some of the most
frequently and infrequently charged vehicles were charged
exclusively at home or in public, but most supplemented home
charging with away-from-home charging.
