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 Project Overview

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) have gained interest over the past decade due to their high fuel economy, convenient low-cost recharging capabilities, and reduced use of petroleum. Most recently, the Obama-Biden Agenda for Energy and the Environment has called for 1 million plug-in hybrid vehicles to be on the road by 2015. PHEVs have been suggested as a technology to improve the reliability and power quality of the electric grid and to ameliorate utility emissions, yet despite these potential benefits, the comparatively high initial cost of PHEVs (primarily due to expensive batteries) presents a major market barrier to their widespread commercialization and adoption by consumers.

Phase 1

During Phase 1, SENTECH, Inc., Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), General Electric (GE), Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and the Center for Automotive Research at Ohio State University conducted a study of the benefits, barriers, opportunities, and challenges of grid-connected PHEVs in order to establish potential value propositions that could lead to commercially viable PHEVs. During the course of this study, business scenarios were developed based on economic advantages that either increase the consumer value of PHEVs or reduce the consumer cost of PHEVs. The technical and market barriers for these scenarios were identified along with the infrastructure and technologies needed to support value proposition. Risks associated with the scenarios were also examined.

In the course of the team's analyses, a case study based in southern California concluded that PHEVs could become commercially viable because the reduced operating costs accrued over a PHEV’s ten year lifetime were projected to indeed outweigh the initial vehicle price premium, resulting in significant net cost savings over both conventional vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. PHEVs in southern California also appeared to reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by one-third relative to conventional vehicles.

Phase 1 efforts concluded in January 2009, and the project team was tasked with performing a PHEV Market Introduction Study (MIS) based on the southern California case study results. The PHEV MIS is a subset of the PHEV Value Proposition Study that will project how new and existing policies can help accelerate market penetration of PHEVs over the next decade. The results of this study will be documented in a final report, scheduled for release in October 2009.

Phase 2

SENTECH, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Center for Automotive Research at Ohio State University, and Taratec Corporation have recently kicked off Phase 2 of the PHEV VPS. During this phase, the project team will investigate how PHEVs compete in a second region and perform sensitivity analyses to determine the effects of varying certain input parameters such as fuel price and commute times. This phase is scheduled for completion in June 2010.

Guidance & Evaluation

A Guidance & Evaluation Committee has provided industry expertise throughout all phases of the study.  Committee members include executives and entrepreneurs from the automotive, energy storage, utility, and academic arenas.

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 PHEV VPS Documents

Phase 2

Phase 1

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Funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, Vehicles Technologies Program &
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability

2007 Ford Escape PHEV demonstration vehicle pictured in banner above

Last modified on October 21, 2009 9:58 AM

 
Link to DOE site Link to SENTECH webpage Link to EPRI website Link to GE website Link to ORNL website US Department of Energy Sentech, Inc. The Ohio State University's Center for Automotive Research Oak Ridge National Laboratory Electric Power Research Institute Taratec Corporation General Electric Corporation