I-Corps: Range-based car swapping networks

University Of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to significantly reduce the cost of electric vehicles (EV). The software platform technology streamlines the design of vehicle swapping networks using a life-cycle approach to scale subsidies. The initial focus will impact existing EV owners and members of peer-to-peer car-sharing platforms. The platform can be customized for a wide range of transportation needs that may benefit from occasional access to specialized vehicles. The ability to efficiently swap vehicles within a network of drivers and to scale subsidies to the benefits of a specific network will result in reduction in transportation costs that may attract a wide range of users. New users will not need to form their own networks but will be able to build onto initial networks, adding new functions and greater geographic diversity. This I-Corps project aims to enable drivers to swap vehicles within a network of long-range and short-range electric vehicles (EV's). Recent advances in life-cycle assessment research provide the knowledge needed to develop a software platform that can allow transportation businesses to estimate life-cycle emissions which provide access to federal, state, and local subsidies that are essential to EV profitability. In particular, life-cycle assessment studies have recently developed regionalized models that account for spatially explicit constraints on emissions as well as detailed impact inventories of battery manufacturing processes. A software application that can assist in the optimal design of these networks to reduce cost and optimize greenhouse gas savings will enhance both the user ability to afford sustainable transportation and the public agency ability to scale subsidies to the actual benefits of a specific vehicle network. The system leverages research results in life-cycle assessment on electric vehicles that quantifies the economic cost and greenhouse gas emissions across a range of product stages including raw material extraction, manufacturing, vehicle use, and end-of-life recycling and disposal. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.