Gig drivers who use their own vehicles to provide transportation and food delivery services face barriers to electric vehicle (EV) adoption including costs, access, and information. To move toward a sustainable transportation future, California is advancing regulations to accelerate electrification of high-mileage vehicles, such as those driven by gig workers for transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft. By 2030, the state istargeting 90% of passenger miles traveled on TNCs to be fueled by electricity. To support this objective, UC Davis researchers developed an online tool to help gig drivers understand their potential cost savings from EVs. This research brief summarizes the findings from that research and provides policy implications.

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Driver behavior has a significant impact on vehicle fuel economy and emissions. Eco-driving refers to anything a driver can do to improve on-road fuel economy. The most common strategy used to promote eco-driving is an in-vehicle display that provides the driver with feedback about their fuel efficiency, typically in real-time.

This policy brief summarizes findings from an extensive review and analysis of many studies of eco-driving feedback conducted to determine the average impact of feedback on fuel economy and improve understanding of what types of feedback are most effective. The study provides the most accurate estimate to-date of the average impact of in-vehicle feedback on fuel economy and summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding characteristics of eco-driving feedback interventions that determine effectiveness.

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One of the potential consumer benefits of electric vehicles (EVs) is lower fuel and maintenance costs compared to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). Consumers tend to have difficulty recognizing these cost benefits, however, because of the complexity of comparing gasoline and electricity prices, and comparing long-term operating savings with EV purchase premiums. Online vehicle cost calculators may help consumers navigate this complexity by providing tailored cost estimates and enabling comparisons across vehicles. Of the several vehicle cost calculators available online, functionalities range widely. No existing research establishes the functionalities and features that determine the usefulness of vehicle cost calculators in promoting EV adoption. Researchers at the University of California, Davis drew upon a systematic review of vehicle cost calculators and findings from multiple user experience studies to articulate best practices for the user interface design of effective vehicle cost calculators. The researchers categorized best practices as those related to the vehicle cost calculator use cases, outputs, user experience, and user inputs.

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Driver behavior has an immense impact on vehicle fuel economy and emissions, yet it has historically been treated as random error in models of fuel economy and neglected in energy and environmental policy-making regarding fuel efficiency. Recently, concern about fossil fuel depletion and climate change, as well as the critical role of driver behavior in achieving the fuel economy benefits of new hybrid and electric vehicles, has created interest in eco-driving. Eco-driving refers to suites of behavior a driver can engage in to improve fuel economy.

The most common strategy used to promote eco-driving is feedback that conveys information about fuel efficiency to the driver. Feedback is typically visual and provided on-board the vehicle via digital screens (dash or instrument cluster displays, after-market devices, or web apps on personal smartphones or tablets). No policies exist requiring manufacturers to provide eco-driving feedback, yet feedback systems of increasing variety are appearing in vehicles, likely due to advances in telematics and decreasing costs of new technologies. The rapidly increasing prevalence and complexity of in-vehicle information systems, along with concern for driver distraction, suggest standardization of eco-driving feedback may be warranted in the near future. Thus, there is a need to understand what types of eco-driving feedback are effective.

This white paper presents a statistical meta-analysis of eco-driving feedback studies in order to determine a pooled estimate of the impact on fuel economy and explore how characteristics of feedback interventions influence their impact. It provides the most accurate estimate to-date of the average impact of in-vehicle feedback on fuel economy and summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding characteristics of eco-driving feedback interventions that determine effectiveness.

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