UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH
SlrpEV: Smart LeaRning Pilot for EV Charging Stations

Key Information:*
- You are being invited to participate in a research study. Participation in research is completely voluntary.
- The purpose of the study is to developing the next-generation of plug-in electronic vehicle (EV) charging stations that intelligently manages electric power and parking through machine learning.
- The study is currently planned to last through March 2023, and may be extended. You will be asked to select amongst two options when charging your plug-in electric vehicle in the RSF Parking Lot.
- Risks and/or discomforts may include unexpected bills, or the risk of breach of confidentiality.
- There is no direct benefit to you. The results will help expand charging infrastructure on-campus, improve operations, and enhance campus decarbonization and energy resilience efforts.


Introduction

My name is Scott Moura.  I am the Clare and Hsieh Wen Shen Endowed Distinguished Professor
in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley.  I am conducting a research study, which I invite you to take part in.

You are being invited to participate in this study because you may commute to campus with a plug-in electric vehicle and you own a campus parking permit.
 
Purpose:
 
The purpose of this study is to developing the next-generation of EV charging stations that intelligently manages electric power and parking through machine learning.

At least 40 people will take part in this study, including members of the UC Berkeley community – faculty, staff, and students.
 
Procedures:
 
If you agree to be in this study, you will be asked to do the following:
• Register on the SlrpEV platform powered by Kitu Systems, via a URL sent to your email after submitting this form.
• Select amongst two options each time you charge your plug-in electric vehicle in RSF Parking Lot.
There are no minimum or maximum number of times you are required to use the chargers. You can charge every day, once, never, and everything in between. The study will last until March 2023, and may be extended.
 
Before you begin the main part of the study...
 
You will be asked to complete an online registration form, and data will be collected from each of your charging sessions. This registration form will ask you about your plug-in electric vehicle, commuting behavior to campus, including typical arrival times, departure times, minimum miles of range added, and more. You will also be asked for payment information. Note: payment information is handled by a secure third-party vendor, called Stripe, and is inaccessible to the researchers. It will take you approximately 2-5 minutes to complete the survey/registration form. The data collected from each charging session includes: session start/end times, charging start/ends times, total energy requested, desired pick-up time, charging service choice, a time-series of power delivered, and an anonymized user identification number.
 
During the main part of the study...
 
After registering as a research participant, participation works as follows.
1. Park your vehicle in one of the labeled EV charging spaces in RSF Lot.
2. Connect the plug to your car.
3. Scan the QR code on the charger with your smartphone camera, which navigates you to the webapp.
4. Consider the two charging options, and select your preference:
   a. REGULAR: Start charging immediately at full power. It stops when you unplug or the battery tops off. The price is a fixed rate, in USD/hr.
   b. SCHEDULED: Indicate your planned departure time and added miles of range, using the sliders. The total price is computed is presented. This cost is charged if you leave at or before the indicated departure time. The charging power is optimized, and therefore may not provide full power and/or start immediately. If the vehicle remains plugged after the indicated departure time, then overstay fees apply. Note, the overstay rate is indicated on screen when you select your charging option.
5. Unplug. Enjoy! A receipt is sent to your email address.

The charging prices for REGULAR and SCHEDULED will change over time. This is done purposefully to understanding your charging preferences and behavior. Often, SCHEDULED will be cheaper than REGULAR on a USD/hr basis. You can examine real-time prices by visiting https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/slrpev/ or by logging into your account, created during registration, at www.slrpev.com.
 
Study time:  Your study participation will occur when/if you execute a charging session. Data will be collected until March 2023, and may be extended.
 
Study location: All study procedures will take place at RSF Parking Lot, 2301 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94720 on the UC Berkeley campus.
 
Benefits:
 
You will receive Plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging service. You may or may not receive discounted charging service relative to nearby ChargePoint chargers (in the Telegraph Channing Garage and Center Street Downtown Berkeley Garage) that currently charge $1.50/hr. Throughout the study, you may experience both discounted and more expensive charging. The current pricing can be found here: https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/slrpev/.

The results of the study have the potential to: (a) influence and improve PEV charging operations and services at UC Berkeley and beyond; (b) contribute to the growing understanding of the behaviors and needs of PEV drivers; (c) increase PEV and renewable energy penetration; (d) improve energy security, flexibility and reliability; and (e) allow campus to respond to energy reduction (i.e. demand response) requests from PG&E - particularly during Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) periods.

 
Risks/Discomforts:
 
• Participant costs: There is a risk your charging service bill is higher than you might anticipate. This almost always occurs because participants misunderstand the pricing options. Note, the bill is computed on a USD/hour basis, starting when plugging-in and ending when plugging-out. Participants should try to understand the presented pricing options, and limit the durations they are plugged in. In addition, participants should not leave their car to charge overnight, which may result in high costs and parking tickets, since RSF lot is closed from 2am – 5pm.

• Undelivered energy: There is a risk a vehicle receives insufficient charge to return home or elsewhere. To minimize this risk, it is wise to always retain a reserve of battery energy to return home. In addition, users may select the SCHEDULED option and indicate a minimum amount of miles added by an indicated departure time.

• Breach of confidentiality: As with all research, there is a chance that confidentiality could be compromised; however, we are taking precautions to minimize this risk.

 
Confidentiality:
 
• Your study data will be handled as confidentially as possible.  If results of this study are published or presented, individual names and other personally identifiable information will not be used.
 
To minimize the risks to confidentiality, we limit the collection of identifiable information to (i) email address and (ii) license plate number. This information is stored in an encrypted and password protected database, accessible only to the PI or a delegate assigned by the PI (e.g., student researcher or research staff member). This information is retained only to (a) delete user data, at the participant’s requests, and (b) respond to Parking & Transportation regarding parking permit enforcement. Data will be retained indefinitely unless the user expresses their willingness to withdraw from the study.

NOTE: Payment information is handled by a secure third-party vendor, called Stripe, and is inaccessible to the researchers. More info about Stripe's security is here: https://stripe.com/docs/security/stripe 
 
Your personal information may be released if required by law. Authorized representatives from the following organizations may review your research data for purposes such as monitoring or managing the conduct of this study:
• Sponsor: TotalEnergies E&P Research & Technology USA, LLC
• University of California
 
• Retaining research records:  When the research is completed, I may save the charging session records for use in future research done by myself or others.  I will retain this study information indefinitely.  The same measures described above will be taken to protect confidentiality of this study data.  

Identifiers (namely email addresses and license plate numbers) will be removed from the identifiable private information. After such removal, the information could be used for future research studies or distributed to other investigators for future research studies without additional informed consent from the subject or the legally authorized representative.

 
Costs of Study Participation:
 
The charging service will cost between 0.00 USD/hr to 3.00 USD/hr, depending on the time-of-day, experimental phase, vehicle charging power capability, etc. The current pricing plan is detailed on our website here: https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/slrpev/pricing?authuser=0. Also, participants will be notified by email when prices change.
 
Compensation:
 
You will not be paid for taking part in this study.
 
Rights:
 
Participation in research is completely voluntary.  You have the right to decline to participate or to withdraw at any point in this study without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. To withdraw, simply email me directly at smoura@berkeley.edu or support@slrpev.freshdesk.com 
 
Questions:
 
If you have any questions or concerns about this study, you may contact Professor Scott Moura at 510-642-0948 or smoura@berkeley.edu. Information about parking permits, hours of operation, and more can be found at https://pt.berkeley.edu/parking/visitor-parking/lots-pricing. Parking questions can also be directed to prktrans@berkeley.edu.  

If you have any questions or concerns about your rights and treatment as a research subject, you may contact the office of UC Berkeley's Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects, at 510-642-7461 or subjects@berkeley.edu.
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