Study Shows California Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEV) Users Are Leaving Cars & Trucks at Home

NEVs Account for 26.5 Million Zero-Emission Trips, 12.6 Million Miles Every Year in State; Replace Gasoline Vehicles 2/3 of Time

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif., Aug. 12 -- Electric vehicle users in California account for 26.46 million one-way trips and 12.58 million zero- emission miles traveled per year, according to a study released Monday, Aug. 11. In addition, two-thirds of those trips would otherwise have been taken in a gasoline-powered car or truck, the study found.

The study was conducted by Green Car Institute, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) education and research organization based in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Researchers individually interviewed 260 California users of neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) during a two-week period in July this year.

Study results show that 76 percent of neighborhood electric vehicle users own two or more internal combustion engine vehicles but that the NEV replaces 65 percent of daily short-distance trips formerly taken with those vehicles.

Approximately 75 percent of all trips taken by NEV users are three miles or less, according to the study. Unlike conventional autos, which typically carry the driver only, NEV users more often traveled with at least one passenger. The study found 75 percent of NEV trips involved one or more passengers.

Titled "Study of NEV User Behavior in California," complete results can be reviewed at www.greencars.org .

The study estimates there were 15,000 or more NEVs in service in California as of July 2003, based on publicly available industry information.

"This appears to be the largest single geographic concentration of electric vehicle users in the world," says Green Car Institute's Tom Fulks, the study's principal author.

Statistical analysis was performed by Kenneth Kurani, Ph.D., who serves on the faculty of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis. The study represents the first publicly available information on the usage patterns of NEV owners.

"Based on the study results, it's clear that these NEV users are having a demonstrably positive impact on emissions reduction and traffic congestion relief in California," Fulks says.

The NEV is a relatively new federally designated class of vehicle with a top speed of 25 mph. A 1998 Federal law allows NEVs on streets of 35 mph or less, although not all states have adopted the federal guideline.

The 260 survey respondents were randomly selected from a database of 10,000 NEV users provided by Global Electric Motorcars, LLC (GEM -- a DaimlerChrysler company), one of several automotive and energy industry financial contributors to Green Car Institute's research programs.

The GEM database was chosen as the test universe because it is the largest single verifiable source of NEV users in California. No other similarly sized database of California NEV users exists, Fulks said. Other NEVs in the state include the Ford TH!NK Neighbor, Pathway by Club Car, Columbia Par Car NEV Commuter, Dynasty IT, Bombardier NEV, E-Z-GO, Taylor-Dunn, Lido, and others.

Of the 260 people interviewed, 162 were "household" users (retail customers, individual owners), and 98 were "small fleet" operators (business or institutional customers with one to four NEVs). The sample size of 260 provides a statistically accurate representation of overall NEV user travel behavior in California with a margin of error of plus or minus 6-8 percent.

While standard vehicles in California typically carry a single driver with no passengers more than 70% of the time, the study found that NEV users have a completely opposite occupancy rate: 75.4% of all NEV trips carry more than one person.

"NEVs are having an impact on congestion and carry an even greater positive environmental benefit than might be measured by simply counting vehicle cold-starts eliminated, trips taken, and vehicle miles traveled (VMT)," Fulks says.

"The NEV is used for far more purposes than anyone might have imagined," he says, "usually in trips characterized as 'trips of necessity.' The NEV is viewed by its owners as a viable tool in the toolbox of transportation options available to them."

The study found that NEVs are in use in a wide variety of land use settings with relatively equal numbers deployed in small, medium, and large urban centers, in suburbs, master-planned communities, rural areas, gated golf communities, mobile home parks, apartment complexes, and numerous other surroundings.

  Other findings include:

  Among all NEV users in California:
   *  39.2% usually travel less than 1 mile for a one-way trip.
   *  35.7% travel 1-3 miles.
   *  18.2% travel 3-5 miles.
   *  24.6% usually drive alone.

  Of all NEV trips in California:
   *  50.8% usually have one passenger.
   *  8.8% usually have two passengers.
   *  15.8% usually have three passengers.
   *  65.3% usually transport cargo in their NEVs.

  Of all NEV trips taken in California:
   *  64.7% replaced personal or company-provided internal combustion engine
      vehicles.
   *  20.1% replaced electric or gasoline powered golf carts.  (In other
      words, one in five NEV trips is for golfing.)
   *  5.0% of NEV trips were "new" or "additional" trips not replacing any
      other mode of travel.

  Of all household NEV users:
   *  48.1% own three or more personal internal combustion engine vehicles.
   *  28.1% own two.
   *  22.5% own one.
   *  01.3% own no other vehicle in addition to their NEV.

  Of all NEV users in California:
   *  60.0 % are older than 55 years.
   *  22.8 % are 46 to 55.
   *  11.1 % are 36 to 45.
   *  04.9 % are 26 to 35.
   *  01.2 % are under 25.

  The most common types of trips taken in NEVs in California were:
   1.  To run local errands.
   2.  For personal recreation.
   3.  To visit friends and family.
   4.  To deliver or transport goods for businesses or personal reasons.

  The most common reasons why households acquired a NEV were:
   1.  The NEV fit their lifestyle.
   2.  They wanted to "have fun" getting around their communities.
   3.  They thought the NEV was "cool."
   4.  They wanted to "save on gasoline" or provide cheap transportation.
   5.  They wanted "a more environmentally friendly mode of travel" or
       wanted a car that fit their travel patterns.

  The most common reasons why businesses acquired a NEV were:
   1.  They wanted a car that fit their company's travel needs.
   2.  They wanted "a more environmentally friendly mode of travel."
   3.  They wanted to "save on gasoline."
   4.  They wanted an affordable fleet vehicle.