On September 25, MMPEI announced the kick-off of a research project on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Teams of researchers at the University of Michigan and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) will explore this question and others with $2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s offices of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability and Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy.

Listen to John Lee, professor – Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, discuss the part of the study that will examine how PHEVs would impact the reliability of the electricity grid.

Listen to Peter Sweatman, director of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), discuss the part of the study that will look at technological barriers to acceptable PHEV performance and cost and consumer attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs about PHEVs.