The symbolism of ‘eco cars’ across national cultures: Potential implications for policy formulation and transfer

Transport choices are not merely practical decisions but steeped in cultural and societal perceptions. Understanding these latent drivers of behaviour will allow countries to develop and import policies to more successfully promote sustainable transport. Transport symbolism – what people believe their ownership or use of a mode connotes to others about their societal position – has been shown to be one such, non-trivial, hidden motivator. In the case of hybrid and electric cars (‘eco cars’), studies have demonstrated how their symbolic value varies within a society among different social groups. As yet, however, there has been scant research into comparing how the symbolism of a mode varies across national cultures, horizontally, between individuals with similar socio-demographic characteristics. Through qualitative thematic analysis, this study utilises two of Hofstede’s cross-cultural indices – power differential and individualism versus collectivism – to develop and strengthen theory on how the differing symbolism of eco cars currently varies between four cultural clusters – Anglo, Nordic, Confucian and South Asian. It also deliberates how observed symbolic qualitative differences may influence an individual or group choice to procure eco cars. Finally, it discusses how policy development, transfer and marketing, within the context of eco cars, may need to be modified by national governments, in the Confucian and South Asian cultures, so as to encourage uptake and modal shift.     

Statistical assessment of EV usage potential from user’s perspective considering rapid-charging technology

The aim of the German Government is the licensing of one million electric vehicles (EV) in Germany until 2020. However, the number of battery electric vehicles (EVs) today still is just above 25,000. There are several reasons for deciding against an EV, but especially low battery ranges as well as too long perceived charging duration inhibit the usage of an EV. To eliminate the negative influence of these two reasons on the decision to purchase an EV, a novel charging technology is established. The rapid-charging technology enables the user to recharge the battery to 80% of its state of charge (SOC) within 20–30 min. For the examination of the technology’s impact from (potential) user’s perspective, users and nonusers of battery electric vehicles were questioned about the perceived additional value of public rapid-charging infrastructure by taking into account different trip purposes and running comparisons to regular charging options. The results show an increased perceived value especially for trips with leisure purpose, considering their share of all trip purposes in Germany, according to the MiD 2008. In order to increase the number of licensed EVs in Germany, the study’s results also suggest further dissemination of information on rapid charging which might influence the perceived usefulness of the technology and consequentially the perceived usefulness of an EV.     

On the variance of recurrent traffic flow for statistical traffic assignment

This paper generalizes and extends classical traffic assignment models to characterize the statistical features of Origin-Destination (O-D) demands, link/path flow and link/path costs, all of which vary from day to day. The generalized statistical traffic assignment (GESTA) model has a clear multi-level variance structure. Flow variance is analytically decomposed into three sources, O-D demands, route choices and measurement errors. Consequently, optimal decisions on roadway design, maintenance, operations and planning can be made using estimated probability distributions of link/path flow and system performance. The statistical equilibrium in GESTA is mathematically defined. Its multi-level statistical structure well fits large-scale data mining techniques. The embedded route choice model is consistent with the settings of O-D demands considering link costs that vary from day to day. We propose a Method of Successive Averages (MSA) based solution algorithm to solve for GESTA. Its convergence and computational complexity are analyzed. Three example networks including a large-scale network are solved to provide insights for decision making and to demonstrate computational efficiency.     

Vehicle electrification in a developing country: Status and issue,from a well-to-wheel perspective

The increase of public attention, scientific research and political interest in environmental problems associated with transportation has provided the motivation for re-invention of electric vehicles. However the usage of grid-dependent EVs with a high-carbon electricity grid might produce more damage to the environment. This study aims to provide an environmental impact comparison of ICEVs, HEVs and EVs during their usage cycle, by modeling their energy consumption (electricity or fuel) and the supply chains of the supplied energy, (well-to-wheel) based on a life cycle assessment. The results show that running EVs with the existing mixed sources of electrical energy produce larger impacts on the environment 60% of the time; when compared to HEVs. When compared to ICEVs, EVs produce a larger environmental impact on 7 out of 15 environmental impact categories. Overall the environmental impacts of EVs are substantial based on the well-to-wheel analysis. It will continue to be so if no change is made to the methods of electricity generation in the near future. Given that the environmental profile of EVs is linked with the existing national electricity generation mix, the national electricity supply must be made cleaner before the electrification of the urban transport system.     

Evolution of the household vehicle fleet: Anticipating fleet composition, PHEV adoption and GHG emissions in Austin, Texas

In today’s world of volatile fuel prices and climate concerns, there is little study on the relationship between vehicle ownership patterns and attitudes toward vehicle cost (including fuel prices and feebates) and vehicle technologies. This work provides new data on ownership decisions and owner preferences under various scenarios, coupled with calibrated models to microsimulate Austin’s personal-fleet evolution.Opinion survey results suggest that most Austinites (63%, population-corrected share) support a feebate policy to favor more fuel efficient vehicles. Top purchase criteria are price, type/class, and fuel economy. Most (56%) respondents also indicated that they would consider purchasing a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) if it were to cost $6000 more than its conventional, gasoline-powered counterpart. And many respond strongly to signals on the external (health and climate) costs of a vehicle’s emissions, more strongly than they respond to information on fuel cost savings.Twenty five-year simulations of Austin’s household vehicle fleet suggest that, under all scenarios modeled, Austin’s vehicle usage levels (measured in total vehicle miles traveled or VMT) are predicted to increase overall, along with average vehicle ownership levels (both per household and per capita). Under a feebate, HEVs, PHEVs and Smart Cars are estimated to represent 25% of the fleet’s VMT by simulation year 25; this scenario is predicted to raise total regional VMT slightly (just 2.32%, by simulation year 25), relative to the trend scenario, while reducing CO₂ emissions only slightly (by 5.62%, relative to trend). Doubling the trend-case gas price to $5/gallon is simulated to reduce the year-25 vehicle use levels by 24% and CO₂ emissions by 30% (relative to trend).Two- and three-vehicle households are simulated to be the highest adopters of HEVs and PHEVs across all scenarios. The combined share of vans, pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and cross-over utility vehicles (CUVs) is lowest under the feebate scenario, at 35% (versus 47% in Austin’s current household fleet). Feebate-policy receipts are forecasted to exceed rebates in each simulation year.In the longer term, gas price dynamics, tax incentives, feebates and purchase prices along with new technologies, government-industry partnerships, and more accurate information on range and recharging times (which increase customer confidence in EV technologies) should have added effects on energy dependence and greenhouse gas emissions.     

战略成本管理的基本方法及其在交通运输企业的应用

介绍了战略定位分析、价值链分析和成本动因分析等西方战略成本管理的基本方法,并对它们在交通运输企业中的应用作了初步探讨,对于培育交通运输企业的竞争优势、降低成本、提高成本效益具有重要意义。     

A receding horizon sliding control approach for electric powertrains with backlash and flexible half-shafts

Active control of electric powertrains is challenging, due to the fact that backlash and structural flexibility in transmission components can cause severe performance degradation or even instability of the control system. Furthermore, high impact forces in transmissions reduce driving comfort and possibly lead to damage of the mechanical elements in contact. In this paper, a nonlinear electric powertrain is modelled as a piecewise affine (PWA) system. The novel receding horizon sliding control (RHSC) idea is extended to constrained PWA systems and utilised to systematically address the active control problem for electric powertrains. Simulations are conducted in Matlab/Simulink in conjunction with the high fidelity Carsim software. RHSC shows superior jerk suppression and target wheel speed tracking performance as well as reduced computational cost over classical model predictive control (MPC). This indicates the newly proposed RHSC is an effective method to address the active control problem for electric powertrains.     

带分布式动力吸振器基座振动传递特性研究

在弹性梁上等间距安装吸振器,构建带分布式动力器的基座系统,建立了Euler梁-吸振器-弹性支承耦合系统的力学模型。给出了子结构的导纳矩阵,推导了基座的动态特性传递方程,得到了基座系统的力传递率表达式,并详细讨论了系统参数对基座减振性能的影响。搭建了带分布式吸振器基座系统实验平台,对电阻应变式力传感器进行了标定,测试了基座的力传递率特性。数值仿真与实验测试结果均表明,带分布式动力吸振器基座在低频取得了优越的减振效果。     

液压驱动转盘在海洋固定平台模块钻机上的设计与应用

海洋固定平台模块钻机空间狭小、布局紧凑、要求设备具有尺寸小、质轻、集成度高、运行安全可靠等特点,而传统电机驱动转盘的驱动方式存在传动链长、传动部件多、传动装置复杂、结构尺寸庞大等问题,在模块钻机尺寸有特殊要求的情况下安装难度大、使用和维修不便,影响总体布局和结构形式的设计。针对上述情况,通过液压驱动转盘与电驱动转盘进行对比,总结出液压驱动转盘小巧轻便、易于建造安装、能够优化钻台结构、操作维护费用低、安全可靠等特点,可为空间有特殊要求的海洋固定平台模块钻机提供一定的参考。     

海面浮标通信电波传播损耗研究与仿真

论文从海上无线电通信特点出发,采用Longley-Rice模型对海面浮标中继通信系统电波传输损耗进行仿真研究,确立了海面浮标通信与海洋环境及通信系统结构的关系,通过对海面浮标通信电波传播损耗进行研究,为浮标通信系统设计特别是对浮体结构设计提供必要的理论依据。