Abstract

On April 8, 2010, the MIT Energy Initiative, together with Ormat, Hess, Cummins and Entergy, sponsored a symposium on: The Electrification of the Transportation System: Issues and Opportunities. The symposiums 68 participants, all experts with wide-ranging backgrounds and points of view, helped to frame the issues, opportunities, and challenges associated with vehicle electrification. The symposium was organized into four panels that addressed key issues: (1) Why vehicle electrification matters, (2) vehicle technologies, (3) infrastructure, and (4) policy options. This report reflects the major points of discussion, and presents a range of possible next steps for the consideration of policy makers and other interested individuals and entities.

It is important to note that this is a report on the proceedings and papers that informed those proceedings; it is not a study. The report represents a range of views from those at the symposium and, where possible, includes consensus or general recommendations from the presenters and participants; it is in no way intended to represent the views of all the participants, the individual participants, or of the rapporteurs.