Implications of transportation electrification in metro Vancouver

The fleet composition forecasted to the year 2020 for the new portion of light and medium duty vehicles (LMDV) in Metro Vancouver is analyzed. Sixteen scenarios of zero tailpipe emission Electric Vehicle (EV) penetration in the new fleet were investigated. These scenarios focus on electricity and hydrogen. The study assesses the efficiency of EV technologies, quantifies the electric transportation energy demand, and summarises the implications of using electricity to power the transportation sector. The analysis shows that from the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) options, battery electric vehicles (BEV) have better energy efficiency. The electricity demand ranges from 32 to 248 GWh yr
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across the scenarios. The larger numbers are due to the hydrogen production via electrolysis. If the required energy were produced via renewable energy sources, e.g., solar or wind, the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions could decrease up to 96%.