The National Renewable Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado has been
involved for many years in advanced automotive technology research.
NREL began in the 1970s as the Solar Energy Research Institute; its
second director was Denis Hayes, founder of Earth Day and Sun Day
(see summary below).

The lab has now set up a basic PHEV overview page on its website.
<http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/hev/plugins.html>http://www.nrel.gov/vehic\
lesandfuels/hev/plugins.html
Soon, this page will provide links to several NREL publications on
PHEV assessment. currently in development.

One of the linked pages
http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/projects_analysis.html
says, "plug-in hybrids hold great promise for providing the first
major alternative to nearly total dependence on petroleum for
transportation fuel."

We hope that as a by-product of the Advanced Energy Initiative the
President announced, NREL will accelerate even further its work on PHEVs.

At the same time, it's a source of concern to everyone that the lab
is simultaneously facing up to $25 million in budget cuts and layoffs
in many of its crucial programs....

From its "about" page:

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is the nation's
primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency R&D.

Established in 1974, NREL began operating in 1977 as the Solar Energy
Research Institute. It was designated a national laboratory of the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in September 1991 and its name changed to NREL.

NREL is the principal research laboratory for the DOE Office of
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy which provides the majority of
its funding. Other funding comes from DOE's Office of Science and
Office of Electricity Transmission and Distribution.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Felix Kramer fkramer@...
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/calcars-news
http://www.hybridcars.com/blogs/power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/priusplus
http://www.seattleeva.org/wiki/EAA-PHEV
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --