As interest in electric vehicles continues to keep the automotive industry charged, the nation is strategizing how to best integrate plug-in vehicles with its electrical grid and highways. Now, with funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the creation of the first transportation center with a focus on electric vehicles, the 麻豆原创 will help chart that course in Florida.
The Electric Vehicle Transportation Center operated by 麻豆原创’s Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa is a newly funded, four-year, $9 million research effort to help develop the nation鈥檚 electric-vehicle transportation network. Research conducted by the center will help transportation planners prepare our nation鈥檚 highways for the influx of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV), while developing 鈥渟mart grid鈥� applications that will strengthen the ability of our electric system to accommodate the power demands of electric vehicles.
PEVs need a reliable, predictable network of charging stations to allow them to travel long distances without the fear of 鈥渞unning out of fuel.鈥� Workplace charging, community charging, and highway fast-charging systems are in development. A new PEV transportation network designed in conjunction with the modernization of our electric grid system will result in a sustainable highway and energy network.
鈥淭oday, electric vehicles鈥攗sing Florida utility power鈥攐perate at an equivalent gasoline price of 99 cents a gallon,鈥� said FSEC director James Fenton. 鈥淲ith fuel costs that low, it鈥檚 no surprise projections indicate that Florida will have as many as 500,000 electric vehicles on its roads within 10 years, placing an unprecedented demand on today鈥檚 utility grid.鈥�
Plug-in electric vehicle sales in the U.S., led by the Volt, Leaf and plug-in Prius, were 50,000 in 2012. The upward trend in sales is expected to continue during the next several years as automakers introduce up to 40 different plug-in models.
Transformation of the U.S transportation system into one that uses electricity and its integration into a dynamic electrical grid will occur over many years and require extensive research and development.
The new Electric Vehicle Transportation Center will leverage the resources of the 麻豆原创 and its partner universities 鈥� the University of Hawaii and Tuskegee University 鈥� to conduct the research and development, and to train and support the scientists, engineers and technicians of the future.
The 麻豆原创鈥檚 EVTC is among 33 universities funded to address critical transportation challenges facing the nation. To view a map of the selected universities, go to: http://www.rita.dot.gov/utc/sites/rita.dot.gov.utc/wp-content/blogs.dir/20/files/Consortiums_2014.pdf
For more information, contact the EVTC program director David Block at block@fsec.ucf.edu or 321-638-1001.