Charging for Charging: The Paradox of Free Charging and its Detrimental Effect on the Use of Electric Vehicles

A survey of plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) owners was conducted focusing on workplace charging suggesting that pricing and a mix of high and low power chargers could efficiently meet the needs of workplace charging and increase electric vehicle miles traveled (eVMT). Respondents reported that in California, 38% of drivers who have chargers at work are unable to charge at least once per week due to congestion at chargers. When asked about price, answers indicated that 4 chargers would be needed for every 10 vehicles if free, versus 1 chargers for every 10 PEVs if the price were double (assuming 1 charger serves 2 cars/day). Since a price of double that of home electricity is still likely to save money, the implication is that people are using free workplace infrastructure 4 times more than they need to. This usage pattern suggests that that simply charging a small fee could encourage more efficient use of infrastructure. If charging is given away for free to spur the market, level 1 or low power level 2 (similar in power to level 1) could be used to install the maximum number of chargers on an existing electricity panel. Level 2 at work could be priced higher to discourage those who don’t need it. More dependability for BEVs could encourage their sale and use. In the case of PHEVs, they would only use level 2 when needed or default to a lower power alternative

Exploring the Impact of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lane Access on Plug-in Vehicle Sales and Usage in California

Allowing single-occupant advanced clean vehicles to use carpool or high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes is an important non-monetary sales incentive. This incentive needs to be balanced against the potential cost of increased congestion on those lanes and reduced revenue of high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, especially during peak travel periods. In a 2013 survey, when Plug-In in vehicle buyers were asked about their primary motivation to buy a plug in car, 57% of Plug-in Priuses, 34% of Volts and 38% of LEAFs identified the HOV sticker. Current legislation in California allows a limited number of stickers for plugin hybrid vehicles and an unlimited number for full battery electric vehicles. This paper offers an analysis on the impact of these stickers on the vehicle purchase decision and the resulting electric miles traveled. We also offer an analysis of the potential cost in terms of miles driven on HOV lanes. The results can help policy makers optimize the benefit for each additional permit while understanding the impact of different vehicle types

California Statewide Charging Assessment Model for Plug-in Electric Vehicles: Learning from Statewide Travel Surveys

Electric vehicle travel and charging was simulated using gasoline vehicle travel information from approximately 15,000 households in the CalTrans 2001 California Statewide Travel Survey. Ranges of 60, 80, and 100 miles were simulated to investigate the travel that could not be completed with home charging alone. Different types of chargers including workplace level 1 and level 2 chargers, level 2 public chargers, and DC quick chargers were then posited to determine the effect of each charging type on electric vehicle miles traveled (eVMT). If all statewide vehicle were 80 mile range battery electric vehicle (BEVs) and began the day with a full charge, 71% of miles (95% of home-based tours) are possible with home charging alone. Travel that requires some charging accounts for a corresponding 29% of miles (5% of tours). Workplace charging can enable about 7% more eVMT, public level 2 at stops greater than 1.5 hours could provide an additional 4% of eVMT, and quick charging could provide an additional 12% of eVMT. 6% of eVMT (0.6% of tours) would be difficult to complete in an 80 mile range BEV. 200 DC fast locations could provide an initial network to serve most Californians with the number of chargers growing past 200 to handle congestion at charging areas. Scenarios for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) show that for a 30 mile range PHEV, 61% of miles could be completed with home charging alone

Gatra Etnobotani Eboni {Diospyros Celebica Bakh.)

Eboni,bagi dunia perdagangan kayu telah banyak menyumbangkan devisa.Akan tetapi berapa banyak sumbangan komoditas tersebut terhadap kelestariannya sendiri masih perlu dipertanyakan.Tidak kurang dan puluhan hasil penelitian untuk USAha budidayanya telah dilakukan, namun semuanya belum menentukan titik terang dan jenis eboni ini tetap akan dieksploitasi tanpa memperhatikan gatra kelestariannya.Buktinya, bahwa beberapa tahun terakhir ini eboni (Diospyros celebicn Bakh.)diusulkan dalam Appendix II CITES,sebagai salah satu komoditas perdagangan yang perlu diatur mekanisme kuotanya.Berbagai hal penting yang menyangkut gatra etnobotani, terutama dalam perspektif botani dan pemanfaatannya akan diulas dalam makalah ini

Who Is Buying Electric Cars in California? Exploring Household and Vehicle Fleet Characteristics of New Plug-In Vehicle Owners

For many years researchers have been trying to predict who would purchase electric vehicles such as plug-in hybrids (PHEV) or battery electric vehicles (BEV). This study explores the characteristics of 1,200 households who actually purchased a new plug-in vehicle in California during 2011-2012. These households are not part of a small scale demonstration project or a limited study, rather part of the new developing market for plug-in vehicles. Most of the owners purchased the Nissan LEAF, a BEV, while small portion of the sample purchased a Chevrolet Volt, a PHEV, or a Tesla roadster, also a BEV. We use the 2009 National household Travel Survey to compare the new plug-in car buyer’s characteristics to the general population and new car buyers in California. We focus on socio-demographic, vehicle fleet characteristics, regional and location factors, and purchasing motivations factors. The result of this study can be used to improve the modeling process of the potential demand for plug-in vehicles and the derived demand for charging and to help in evaluating the impact of policies to increase the demand for these vehicles

EV Explorer: Evaluating a Vehicle Informational Tool

This paper reports the evaluation of EV Explorer, an online vehicle informational tool. EV Explorer allows users to compare fuel costs for different vehicles based on their own commuting patterns, charging opportunities, vehicle mileage, and local fuel prices. All these inputs can be adjusted by the user for a tailored estimate of annual fuel costs for up to four user-selected vehicles at a time. Default vehicle comparisons promote consideration of plug-in hybrid electric and fully electric vehicles (PEVs). The authors evaluated EV Explorer through online experimentation, gauging users’ perceptions—before and after using the website—of their current fuel costs, potential savings with PEVs, attitude toward PEV charging, and intention to buy or lease a PEV in the future. Statistically significant changes in each of these variables validate EV Explorer as an educational tool and a persuasive eco-feedback intervention to promote the adoption of PEVs

A positional statistic for 1324-avoiding permutations

We consider the class $S_n(1324)$ of permutations of size $n$ that avoid the pattern 1324 and examine the subset $S_n^{a\prec n}(1324)$ of elements for which $a\prec n\prec [a-1]$, $a\ge 1$. This notation means that, when written in one line notation, such a permutation must have $a$ to the left of $n$, and the elements of $\{1,\dots,a-1\}$ must all be to the right of $n$. For $n\ge 2$, we establish a connection between the subset of permutations in $S_n^{1\prec n}(1324)$ having the 1 adjacent to the $n$ (called primitives), and the set of 1324-avoiding dominoes with $n-2$ points. For $a\in\{1,2\}$, we introduce constructive algorithms and give formulas for the enumeration of $S_n^{a\prec n}(1324)$ by the position of $a$ relative to the position of $n$. For $a\ge 3$, we formulate some conjectures for the corresponding generating functions.Comment: 8 pages. Submitted for publicatio

Universal point contact resistance between thin-film superconductors

A system comprising two superconducting thin films connected by a point contact is considered. The contact resistance is calculated as a function of temperature and film geometry, and is found to vanish rapidly with temperature, according to a universal, nearly activated form, becoming strictly zero only at zero temperature. At the lowest temperatures, the activation barrier is set primarily by the superfluid stiffness in the films, and displays only a weak (i.e., logarithmic) temperature dependence. The Josephson effect is thus destroyed, albeit only weakly, as a consequence of the power-law-correlated superconducting fluctuations present in the films below the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition temperature. The behavior of the resistance is discussed, both in various limiting regimes and as it crosses over between these regimes. Details are presented of a minimal model of the films and the contact, and of the calculation of the resistance. A formulation in terms of quantum phase-slip events is employed, which is natural and effective in the limit of a good contact. However, it is also shown to be effective even when the contact is poor and is, indeed, indispensable, as the system always behaves as if it were in the good-contact limit at low enough temperature. A simple mechanical analogy is introduced to provide some heuristic understanding of the nearly-activated temperature dependence of the resistance. Prospects for experimental tests of the predicted behavior are discussed, and numerical estimates relevant to anticipated experimental settings are provided.Comment: 29 pages (single column format), 7 figure

Positive Selection and Increased Antiviral Activity Associated with the PARP-Containing Isoform of Human Zinc-Finger Antiviral Protein

Intrinsic immunity relies on specific recognition of viral epitopes to mount a cell-autonomous defense against viral infections. Viral recognition determinants in intrinsic immunity genes are expected to evolve rapidly as host genes adapt to changing viruses, resulting in a signature of adaptive evolution. Zinc-finger antiviral protein (ZAP) from rats was discovered to be an intrinsic immunity gene that can restrict murine leukemia virus, and certain alphaviruses and filoviruses. Here, we used an approach combining molecular evolution and cellular infectivity assays to address whether ZAP also acts as a restriction factor in primates, and to pinpoint which protein domains may directly interact with the virus. We find that ZAP has evolved under positive selection throughout primate evolution. Recurrent positive selection is only found in the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)–like domain present in a longer human ZAP isoform. This PARP-like domain was not present in the previously identified and tested rat ZAP gene. Using infectivity assays, we found that the longer isoform of ZAP that contains the PARP-like domain is a stronger suppressor of murine leukemia virus expression and Semliki forest virus infection. Our study thus finds that human ZAP encodes a potent antiviral activity against alphaviruses. The striking congruence between our evolutionary predictions and cellular infectivity assays strongly validates such a combined approach to study intrinsic immunity genes

Magnetoresistance Anisotropy of Polycrystalline Cobalt Films: Geometrical-Size- and Domain-Effects

The magnetoresistance (MR) of 10 nm to 200 nm thin polycrystalline Co-films, deposited on glass and insulating Si(100), is studied in fields up to 120 kOe, aligned along the three principal directions with respect to the current: longitudinal, transverse (in-plane), and polar (out-of-plane). At technical saturation, the anisotropic MR (AMR) in polar fields turns out to be up to twice as large as in transverse fields, which resembles the yet unexplained geometrical size-effect (GSE), previously reported for Ni- and Permalloy films. Upon increasing temperature, the polar and transverse AMR's are reduced by phonon-mediated sd-scattering, but their ratio, i.e. the GSE remains unchanged. Basing on Potters's theory [Phys.Rev.B 10, 4626(1974)], we associate the GSE with an anisotropic effect of the spin-orbit interaction on the sd-scattering of the minority spins due to a film texture. Below magnetic saturation, the magnitudes and signs of all three MR's depend significantly on the domain structures depicted by magnetic force microscopy. Based on hysteresis loops and taking into account the GSE within an effective medium approach, the three MR's are explained by the different magnetization processes in the domain states. These reveal the importance of in-plane uniaxial anisotropy and out-of-plane texture for the thinnest and thickest films, respectively.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure