Developing a vehicle cost calculator to promote electrical vehicle adoption among transportation network company (TNC) drivers

This research developed EV Explorer 2.0, an online vehicle cost calculator (VCC) to meet the requirements of transportation network company (TNC) drivers considering acquiring an electric vehicle (EV). The tool was built to also support the needs of other users considering an EV, including other types of gig economy drivers as well as the general population of non-professional drivers. EV Explorer 2.0 includes several important features and functionalities to support the TNC driver use case that are not found in any other available tool: (1) It allows users to estimate TCO for used vehicles as well as new (others only estimate TCO for new vehicles); (2) Outputs include ridehail-driving income estimates, accounting for EV trip bonuses offered by Uber, net driving costs; (3) Estimates of total cost of driving (TCD) include charging network membership fees and charging session fees (in addition to electricity prices). It also includes key features found in other leading tools, such as presenting and tailoring EV purchase/lease incentive estimates (based on a database we developed), and innovative features to benefit all users, such as animations conveying the social and environmental impacts of vehicle choice. Design features were informed and validated in user testing with TNC drivers who had expressed interest in EV adoption.

Methods
Federal incentives sourced from fueleconomy.gov

State and local incentives sourced from AFDC.energy.gov

Maintenance itemized costs sourced from afleet.es.anl.gov

Lyft upgraded ride-eligible PEVs sourced from help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/all/articles/115012923147-Lyft-Lux-Lux-Black-and-Lux-Black-XL-rides-for-drivers#eligible

Uber upgraded ride-eligible PEVs sourced from uber.com/global/en/eligible-vehicles/?city=san-francisco; NOTE: Uber provides vehicle eligibility by city, so we used those eligible in San Francisco, CA, as the reference.