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Download filePotential for electric vehicle adoption in Australia
thesis
posted on 29.03.2022, 02:34 by Sohaib RafiqueTransport is expected to become electrified in coming decades, bringing new challenges and opportunities for commuters and electricity distributors. This thesis presents analysis of Household Travel Survey (2014/15) and Journey to Work (2011) census datasets from the New South Wales (NSW) with the aim of : (i) investigating whether electric vehicles (EVs) could meet the daily commuting needs, and (ii) quantifying the potential impact of EVs on the electricity distribution grid as a function of location and time.
It was found that 87% of commuter vehicle trips could be provided using affordable EVs and that the resulting electricity demand would increase by more than 10% in only 9 out of 35 local government areas (LGAs) in NSW, Australia. We also quantified the potential spatiotemporal electric energy available for vehicle-to-grid services.
It was found that greenhouse gas emissions across NSW would reduce by 26% CO2 (eq) even if all EVs were recharged from non-renewable coal-fired power plants, due to greater efficiency of EVs. The results demonstrated the potential for wide-scale adoption of EVs in Australia. Lastly, to facilitate analysis and prediction of key variables, the travel data was modelled using regression trees (RTs) and artificial neural networks (ANNs).