Technological, Market and Policy Drivers of Emerging Trends in the Diffusion of Plug-in Electric Vehicles in the U.S

There are a number of societal motivations for the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs): reduced emissions, a more diverse mix of fuel types and sources, reducing the dependence on unstable regions with the greatest oil reserves, reducing petro-dollar funding of activities increased economic security fr a more assured continuity of supplies plus more balanced trade, and fuel price stability (Sperling, 1989; Srivastava, 20 Until recently, these national motivations and societal bene have not led to significant adoption of any type of alternative fuel vehicle in the U The characteristics of electric David P. Tuttle is a Research Fellow and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. His current research interests are PEVs, PEV interactions, and synergies with the electric grid, and renewable energy. He is one of the researchers in Austin’s Pecan Street Consortium/University of Texas Plug-In Vehicle and Smartgrid research project (the subject of an article elsewhere in this issue). He received his B.S. and Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering with Highest Honors from the University of Louisville, Speed Scientific School in 1981 and 1982 and an M.B.A. with the Dean’s Award from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991. He was responsible for designing microprocessors and leading highperformance microprocessor and systems development teams at IBM (1982–2000), then later formed a design team for Sun Microsystems in Austin focused on power-efficient multicore/multi-thread microprocessor development.