Abstract:The Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) is a small, electric car, designed for low speed, local trips in neighborhoods and urban areas. The NEV may be an attractive alternative to the full-size, gasoline powered automobile for those trips which tend to be the most polluting and inefficient—short, low-speed, stop-and-go trips.

The market potential for NEVs depends, in part, on the availability of a network of safe and accessible roads, convenient parking, home and away-from-home recharging. A comprehensive strategy for establishing amenable infrastructures will require attention in each of these areas. An infrastructure strategy combined with market incentives, supportive government policies, and education, will encourage budding NEV markets. The purpose of this paper is to identify which infrastructures are needed to accommodate NEVs, to understand the underlying institutional processes involved in designing and implementing such improvements, and to present some generalizable NEV-centric infrastructure concepts.

Note:Prepared for CALSTART.