The California Energy Commission announced the establishment of this
Center in December <http://www.calcars.org/calcars-news/614.html>.
Below we reprint from the monthly newsletter of the UC Davis
Institute of Transportation Studies its announcement, which provides
more details about who at ITS will be involved in the project.

We're pleased to see this new "player" in the world of PHEVs. Its
auspices (ITS is a recognized international leader in transportation
policy), its ability to connect on campus with Prof. Andy Frank's
Hybrid Vehicle Driveline Research and Design Center, its proximity to
Sacramento, and the involvement of hybrid and PHEV experts, all bode
well for its potential impact. We and other PHEV advocates expect to
work closely with the new Center and its staff. Here's how Director
Tom Turrentine has informally summarized the Center's objectives:
1. Enhance the commercial viability of PHEVs
2. Inform policymakers, industry leaders, consumers, and others about
PHEV technology
3. Support PHEV demonstrations and related efforts

We think you'll be impressed at the thoughtfulness of those involved
with the new center, if you read the "The Meaning of Hybrids"
http://www.hybridcars.com/hybrid-drivers/the-meaning-of-hybrids.html>
at HybridCars.com. This interview explores the issues raised when we
say, "people want hybrids and PHEVs because they want the
environmental feature." For more about Turrentine (whose first work
on PHEVs was in 1997) see
<http://www.its.ucdavis.edu/people/faculty/turrentine/>.


PLUGGING IN TO FUTURE VEHICLES: State Funded Plug-in Hybrid Research
Center at UC Davis
<http://www.its.ucdavis.edu/news/enews/issue30/index.html#12#12>

CAPTION: The Institute's Emily Winston joined PHEV advocate Felix
Kramer of CalCars at an alternative fuel vehicle exhibit at the
Capitol in January.

UC Davis will serve as the hub of research on plug-in hybrid
vehicles, thanks to a three-year, $3 million grant from the
California Energy Commission (CEC). ITS-Davis will administer the
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) Research Center, Researcher
Tom Turrentine will direct the program, and the Center will
coordinate with Mechanical Engineering Professor Andy Frank, who is
widely known as the father of PHEVs.

"Our mission is to develop and implement a strategic research agenda
for the State of California, and to provide technology and policy
guidance to the state as it moves forward with this technology," says
Turrentine. "The CEC knew that UC Davis was an independent expert
they could trust, and I intend to do everything possible to live up
to their expectations."

In a press release announcing the contract, CEC Vice Chairman James
Boyd said, "The center will serve as a magnet for innovative research
by advancing and demonstrating technology which will greatly reduce
our dependence on petroleum."

Turrentine says his first priorities are to develop an Advisory
Council and a research roadmap to steer the Center's strategic goals
and vision. The Advisory Council will be comprised of academics,
government and non-governmental organizations, PHEV advocates and
industry representatives from the electric utility, fuel provider and
automotive manufacturing sectors.

Among the research topics that likely will be woven into a
comprehensive program are consumer response, which is Turrentine's
expertise, with ITS-Davis Researcher Ken Kurani; vehicle systems
analysis, led by Professor Frank and Researcher Andrew Burke; and
lifecycle emissions modeling, directed by Researcher Mark Delucchi.
Additionally the Center will reach out and engage other stakeholders
with interest and expertise in PHEVs.

Bob Graham, electric transportation program manager at the Electric
Power Research Institute (EPRI) and a longtime advocate of PHEV
research, says he looks forward to working with the CEC and ITS-Davis
in the coming years. "It's good that the state has initiated a
program to focus on R&D that hopefully will enable California to
provide products and systems support for the electric drive revolution."

Graham, and EPRI colleague Mark Duvall, a UC Davis graduate and
former manager of Professor Frank's PHEV lab on campus, will bring to
the Center the benefit of several years of PHEV research. The
EPRI-led research, funded collaboratively by utilities, government,
and industry, will help inform the follow-on research directions of
the new PHEV Center at UC Davis.

The Center's funding comes from the CEC Public Interest Energy
Research (PIER) program, which supports energy research, development
and demonstration projects that improve the quality of life in California.

The future looks promising for PHEVs. Indeed, only weeks after CEC
awarded the contract, General Motors showed its PHEV concept, the
Chevy Volt at the Detroit Auto Show and Ford introduced a PHEV
concept vehicle that uses a fuel cell and batteries.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Felix Kramer fkramer@...
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --