"Range anxiety" is leading some consumers away from electric cars, but their fears are unfounded, according to a new study.
Nathan Collins reports the results of a new study published in the Nature Energy journal finding that relatively low-cost electric vehicles can handle 87 percent of daily driving needs.
The study effectively refutes the "range anxiety" (i.e., fear that electric cars can't travel far enough before needing a charge), considered a barrier to wider market acceptance of electric cars.
To answer the question of whether "range anxiety" stood up to rational scrutiny, Jessika Trancik, an associate professor of Energy Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and fellow researchers "combined data from the National Household and Transportation Survey; GPS data from more than 117,000 individual drivers in California, Georgia, and Texas; and weather data, which gave the team a way to estimate how much air conditioning drivers used on their trips." The experiment relied on the Nissan Leaf—a relatively affordable model of electric car.
The researchers also argue for two "key innovations" that could pave the way for widespread adoption of electric cars.
FULL STORY: Electric Cars Are Way More Practical Than You Might Think
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
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World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
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Maine Approves Rent Relief Program
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New York Passes Housing Package Focused on New Development and Adaptive Reuse
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City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.