DOE, Sweden Sign MOU to Advance Market Integration of Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles
July 10, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Swedish Energy Agency (SEA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work on accelerating consumer acceptance and commercialization of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV).
The MOU outlines a one-year, $1-million cost-sharing arrangement that will be equally funded by DOE and SEA.
The DOE Argonne National Laboratory will work with test site Sweden to demonstrate plug-in technologies, support R&D, and share operational and consumer data and solutions to potential vehicle-to-grid.
Over the next year, the following activities will take place under the MOU:
- Proof of concepts to support PHEV development and introduction (e.g., vehicle instrumentation, vehicle-to-grid/home hardware and smart charging systems).
- Tracking and evaluating customer behavior in field operational testing.
- Quantification of national, utility and customer benefits.
- Planning and deployment of convenient public charging stations.
"[This] announcement furthers the historic energy cooperation commitment between the United States and Sweden as we work together to advance the research, development and deployment of plug-in hybrid vehicles from the lab to the marketplace," DOE Assistant Secretary Alexander Karsner said.
"The advancement of clean energy technologies, such as plug-in hybrid vehicles, will help address the serious challenge of global climate change while enhancing our countries economic growth and increased energy security."
This MOU builds on an agreement signed by DOE Assistant Secretary Karsner and Swedish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Enterprise and Energy Maud Olofsson in June 2007 that further expanded cooperation on renewable energy and vehicle technologies.
The 2007 agreement focused cooperation on biomass production, transportation and automotive research, reducing the cost of renewable energy and improving energy efficiency. It also established a bilateral working group to explore prospective projects, said DOE.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).