Refueling Infrastructure Preferences and the Adoption of Alternative-Fuel Vehicles

这个研究项目将研究替代燃料站的地理布局如何影响消费者购买替代燃料汽车的决定。该项目将使用多种不同的方法来评估燃料和充电网络的存在和位置安排如何影响消费者购买或租赁使用液体生物燃料、压缩天然气、电力或氢气的替代燃料汽车的意愿。该项目将提供新的见解，因为它将超越以往的研究，即关注单个假设加油站的离家距离或提供替代燃料的加油站的百分比，并研究未来的采用率如何评估加油站网络的地理布局。该项目将考虑不同种类燃料系统的不同动态，超越之前对慢充电电动汽车的强调，更多地关注新电动汽车的快速充电和快速加油的氢气或天然气汽车。除了着重于这一具体问题外，该项目的空间分析方法将适用于检查除加油站以外的其他类型的设施。该项目将有助于解决消费者采用替代燃料汽车的一个主要障碍：缺乏便利的加油站。项目调查结果将有助于规划更有效率和更有效的车站网，从而便利这些车辆的使用，并使它们能够作为其他运输方式的更可行的补充。调查人员将使用四种不同的方法来探索该项目的首要研究问题的答案：潜在买家如何评估替代燃料站的地理布局？他们将对南加州的压缩天然气汽车车主进行在线调查，以收集有关这些司机在购买汽车时居住、工作和加油的信息。这项研究将揭示购买者在购买汽车时是否更倾向于依赖家附近的车站，以及随着时间的推移，他们是否会转而选择离家较远但经常出行的车站。在第二项研究中，研究人员将要求康涅狄格州潜在的燃料电池汽车采用者提供关于不同加油站网络的地图如何影响他们购买燃料电池汽车的决定的反馈，从而帮助确定哪些标准可能在由最佳加油站位置模型产生的一系列选择中最有影响力。在第三项研究中，调查人员将对加州燃料电池汽车的潜在客户进行访谈，以开发消费者决策过程的人种学决策树模型。在第四项研究中，调查人员将利用地理设计过程，让消费者和行业利益相关者参与规划加油站网络，使他们能够在实践研讨会上使用地理信息系统来制定空间规划。通过在三个不同地区对不同类型的车辆采用四种不同的方法，该项目将使研究人员能够从不同的角度处理一个复杂的问题，从而更深入地了解如何安排车站，以最有效地促进采用替代燃料车辆。

This research project will examine how the geographic arrangement of alternative-fuel stations affects consumer decisions to purchase an alternative-fuel vehicle. The project will use a number of different approaches to assess the ways in which the presence and locational arrangement of fueling and charging networks influences consumer willingness to purchase or lease alternative-fuel vehicles that operate with liquid biofuels, compressed natural gas, electricity, or hydrogen. The project will provide new insights because it will move beyond previous studies that focused on the distance from home of a single hypothetical station or the percentage of gasoline stations that offer an alternative fuel and study how prospective adopters evaluate the geographic arrangement of a station network. The project will consider the different dynamics of different kinds of fuel systems, moving beyond previous emphasis on slow-charging electric vehicles by giving greater attention to the more rapid recharging of newer electric vehicles and refueling of fast-filling hydrogen or natural gas vehicles. In addition to focusing on this specific problem, the project's spatial-analytic approaches will be adaptable for use in examining other types of facilities besides fuel stations. The project will help address a major barrier to consumer adoption of alternative-fuel vehicles: the lack of conveniently located fuel stations. Project findings will contribute to planning more efficient and effective station networks, thereby facilitating the use of such vehicles and enabling them to serve as a more viable complement to other modes of transportation.The investigators will use four different approaches to explore answers to the project's overarching research question: How do prospective buyers assess the geographic arrangement of alternative fuel stations? They will conduct an online survey of owners of compressed natural-gas vehicles in Southern California to gather information regarding where those drivers lived, worked, and refueled at the time they purchased their vehicles. This study will reveal whether buyers were more likely to rely on a station near home when they purchased the vehicle and whether they adapted over time by switching to a station farther from home but along frequently traveled routes. In a second study, the investigators will ask potential fuel-cell vehicle adopters in Connecticut to provide feedback regarding how maps of different refueling station networks affect their decisions to purchase a fuel-cell vehicle, thereby helping identify which criteria may be most influential among a range of options generated by optimal station location models. In a third study, the investigators will conduct interviews with potential customers of fuel-cell vehicles in California in order to develop an ethnographic decision-tree model of the consumer decision-making process. In the fourth study, the investigators will engage consumers and industry stakeholders in planning a network of refueling stations using a geodesign process that enables them to use geographic information systems in hands-on workshops to develop spatial plans. By employing four different methods in three different regions for different types of vehicles, the project will enable the investigators to approach a complex issue from various angles to produce a deeper understanding of how to arrange stations to best promote adoption of alternative-fuel vehicles.