Overview

By mid-2007, most of the major auto manufacturers had announced plans to make plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Toyota was the first, in July 2006. Unlike its Prius, Toyota's plug-in hybrid will recharge its larger batteries from a standard household outlet. Toyota reports that the car could travel further without using its gas engine while also using less oil. Bill Reinert, Toyota's chief U.S. engineer, was a keynote speaker at the May 2007 Cascadia-Microsoft conference on PHEVs.

In December 2006, General Motors announced it would make a plug-in version of its existing Saturn Vue hybrid, calling it "a major priority." GM later announced the Chevy Volt will have an electric motor and batteries that can be recharged with an onboard generator or by plugging into a standard household outlet. GM estimated that for 78 percent of U.S. drivers who travel 40 miles or less a day, the Chevy Volt would use only the battery "without burning a drop of petroleum." Nick Zielinski, GM's chief engineer for the Chevy Volt, was also a Cascadia-Microsoft Conference speaker.

Also in December '06, the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, evaluated the impact of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on foreign oil imports, the environment, electric utilities and consumers. If recharging were limited to night and other low demand times, the study estimated significant savings for the economy and a potential for substantially lowering greenhouse gases. The study concluded that the unused capacity of the electric power grid "is an underutilized national asset that could be tapped to vastly reduce our dependence on foreign oil." An author of that report, Michael Kintner-Meyer, spoke at the Cascadia-Microsoft Conference.

Cascadia Center's Involvement & Solutions
We continue our work to determine how best to integrate plug-in hybrids into the electric power grid and to accelerate the production of PHEVs in order to achieve greater energy independence, cut greenhouse gases and help reduce our balance-of-trade deficit, one-third of which is caused by oil imports. We assisted with a presidential executive order that would require federal agencies to purchase PHEVs when commercially available, and have worked toward creating pilot projects and incentives for PHEVs.

Park and ride transit lots can potentially provide PHEV owners with another incentive to park and take transit into urban areas. Jon Wellinghoff, Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, has worked with us on a "cash back hybrid" concept that would provide owners of PHEVs with cash incentives to park at specially designed outlets at park and rides that would allow two-way power flows to the power grid. Wellinghoff was also a keynote speaker at the Cascadia-Microsoft PHEV conference in May 2007.

We are working with the Washington and U.S. transportation departments on proposals that would test how to recharge PHEVs at park and ride lots. We are also collaborating to encourage transit use and to introduce congestion pricing to replace lost gas tax revenues when gas consumption declines with the move to alternative fuel and electricity.

"Go Green, Go Fast," Bruce Agnew, Steve Marshall, Cascadia Center For Regional Development, Seattle Times, 7/1/07.

"Green Wheels Spinning For Venture Backers," Bruce Agnew, Steve Marshall, Cascadia Center For Regional Development, Puget Sound Business Journal, 5/28/07.

"Plug-in Cars Show Promise; Let's Address Obstacles," Bob Bolerjack, Everett Herald editorial, 5/13/07.

"Will Plug-in Cars End The Age Of Oil?," David Brewster, Crosscut, 5/10/07.

"Fueling Inertia," Gary Crooks, Spokane Spokesman-Review editorial, 5/9/07.

"Fans Of Plug-in Cars Build Their Power Base," Hal Bernton & Mike Lindblom, Seattle Times, 5/8/07.

"Visions Of A Northwest Hybrid Car Future Abound," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 5/8/07.

"Your Ride Shapes Our National Security, Environment;" Matt Rosenberg, Cascadia Prospectus, 5/7/07.

"Driving To A Cleaner Future," Matt Rosenberg, Cascadia Prospectus, 5/7/07.

"Plug-In Hybrid Electric Cars - How They'll Solve The Fuel Crunch," Ben Hewitt, Popular Mechanics, 5/07.

"Beyond The Prius: Plugging In To Green Transportation," Brier Dudley, Seattle Times, 4/30/07.

"Recharging The Nation's Energy Policy," Bruce Agnew, Steve Marshall, Cascadia Center For Regional Development, Seattle Times, 1/23/07.

"How Does Hundreds Of Miles Per Gallon Sound?, editorial, Everett Herald, 1/14/07.

"Gentlemen, Start Your Plug-Ins," R. James Woolsey, Opinion Journal (Wall Street Journal), 1/1/07.

PHEV Research and Reports

"Replacing Oil With Electricity And Biofuels In Transportation: The Convergence Of Technology And Public Policy," Steve Marshall, 8/7/07.

"Environmental Assessment of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles," Electric Power Research Institute, Natural Resources Defense Council, 7/07.

Speaker Presentations at Cascadia-Microsoft "Jump Start To A Secure Clean Energy Future" conference on Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Alternative Fuels, May 7, 2007

Roger Duncan, Austin Energy/Plug-In Partners (4.78 MB)
Mark Duvall, Electric Power Research Institute (1.13 MB)
Andrew A. Frank, University of California/Davis (1.33 MB)
K.C. Golden, Climate Solutions (1.81 MB)
David Horner, U.S. Dept. of Transportation (700 KB)
Michael Kintner-Meyer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (1.91 MB)
Felix Kramer, CalCars.org (708 KB)
John M. Miller, Maxwell Technologies (496 KB)
Philip Mote, University of Washington (3.88 MB)
Tim Murphy, Idaho National Laboratory (674 KB)
Vic Parrish, Energy Northwest (494 KB)
Bill Reinert, Toyota USA (2.00 MB)
Bill Rogers, Idaho National Laboratory (1.05 MB)
Greg Rock, Green Car Company (82.9 KB)
Neil Schuster, Intelligent Transportation Society Of America (2.14 MB)
Rogelio Sullivan, U.S. Dept. of Energy (1.08 MB)
John Wellinghoff, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (4.23 MB)
Nick Zielinski, General Motors/Chevy Volt (1.79 MB)

(PHEV Research, cont.)

Impacts Assessment of Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles On Electric Utilities and Regional U.S. Power Grids; Michael Kintner-Meyer, Kevin Schneider, Robert Pratt; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 12/06.

PHEV Pilot Projects

"Toyota, UC Campuses To Test Plug-in Hybrid Cars, Martin Zimmerman, Los Angeles Times, 7/25/07.

"Ford, Utility To Test Plug-In Hybrids," Tom Krisher, AP/Detroit News, 7/10/07.

""New York State Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Initiative, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

"City Plugs In To Hybrid Car Trend: Toronto To Launch Pilot Project With Cars That Can Be Charged From Any Wall Socket," Tyler Hamilton, Toronto Star, May 24, 2007.