This student paper was produced for the Energy Policy Practicum (Rosner/Topel, 2016)
As regulatory landscape in the United States has moved to standards and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, multiple solutions are being pursued, including efficient vehicle technologies, clean fuels, and alternative fuels. Efficient vehicle technologies include electric drive technologies such as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and battery-powered electric vehicles, will play increasingly important roles in the transportation sector in the coming 10 to 15 years.
In this paper, we will look at the various issues that may arise from the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the next 15 years. Specifically, we will start by looking at the amount of increase in electricity consumption in the U.S. under different scenarios, how we can meet this demand using existing energy capacity on the grid, the expected energy mix in consideration of both practicality of resources and greenhouse gas emissions standards, and lastly, necessary changes to the grid infrastructure and their respective challenges.