EV Project: Electric Vehicle journeys saved a million gallons of gasoline, 8,700 metric tons of CO2 emissions

EV Project: Electric Vehicle journeys saved a million gallons of gasoline, 8,700 metric tons of CO2 emissions

By Linden Volsun - 26 Apr 2012 14:22:20 GMT

Chevrolet Volt image via Shutterstock Around one million gallons of petrol and 8,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions have been saved by EVs in the United States in under three years. The findings are among data collected and analysed from more than 24 million miles of journeys by Electric Vehicles (EVs) and the total is rising by 100,000 miles a day.
The EV Project has been conducted by American clean electric transportation and storage company ECOtality since October 2009.
Don Karner, Chief Innovation Officer of ECOtality, Inc. and Project Manager for The EV Project, says, "The EV Project is paving the way for the future of plug-in electric vehicles in America. With over 24 million miles of data collected so far, we are gathering extremely valuable insight into how to effectively and efficiently create an EV infrastructure that will help make America less dependent on foreign oil."
The results so far, which have come from 675,000 vehicles and charge points, are just the start and Mr Karner is keen to continue the work of harvesting information from the EV data points.
The 24 million miles represents the equivalent of 963 journeys around the globe and a saving of almost one million gallons of petrol saved by the electric cars.
The EVs have prevented around 8,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere.
Data from the EV Project will be used to investigate the infrastructure to support the growth of electric vehicles in key markets.
The results are being included in more than 40 White Papers. These will be publicly available at the EV Project website.
The EV Project is a public-private venture, which is partnered by Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan LEAF. Drivers who are approved to take part in the project receive a free residential charger and up to $1,200 (£741) installation costs paid.
ECOtality was given a $99.8million (£61.65 million) grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to begin the work and was made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
The company aims to advance the use of electric technology instead of those powered by carbon fuels. ECOtality, which has headquarters in San Francisco, California, has a history in electric transportation that dates back to 1989.
The project gathers and analyses data into how EVs perform in various locations and weather, how effective the charger network is and investigates costs and revenues.
One important data source is home chargers, or Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE). Among data gathered from the vehicle and the EVSE is the amount of energy used and the time and length of charger use. No personal information is included in the results.