Abstract
The rise of alternative fuel vehicles has had an impact on vehicle choice in recent years. The acceptance and growth of these vehicles is dependent upon many factors. In this thesis we present some ideas drawn from analogies to ecology to help explain a possible demand towards alternative fuel vehicles. More specifically, using basic growth and decay rates of species populations, we present some preliminary analysis regarding how ecological modeling may relate to the growth of hydrogen and battery electric vehicles. We build upon the dynamics of the ecology equations to postulate potential vehicle growth patterns. We generate synthetic data to demonstrate potential applications of the analogous models for real world scenarios and to predict possible outcomes. Additionally, we look at migration probabilities between different vehicle population areas to see how vehicles travel on a limited range, as well as examine a mutualism dynamic that could possibly exist between vehicles and their refueling or charging stations. It is emphasized that the work presented here is exploratory in nature, and that any actual application of the models that are developed is well beyond the scope of this thesis. Rather, our purpose is only to identify and demonstrate certain aspects of ecological modeling that may shed light on the potential for alternative fuel vehicles to gain an appreciable market share of the current internal combustion vehicle marketplace.