Background

In order to achieve a significant improvement in both vehicle fuel economy, and emissions reduction, next generation hybrid vehicles need to move beyond the current efficiency limitations of the internal combustion engine, by increasing the role of the electric motor. A Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle offers consumers dramatic benefits in both fuel economy and emissions reduction by allowing the car to be driven for a limited range in “all electric” mode. A study of actual drive patterns documented by the Department of Transportation, reveals that a majority of vehicles in the US drive less than 50 miles a day. This leads to the conclusion that a dual mode hybrid vehicle (PHEV) capable of both electric only short range (20-50 miles) and hybrid extended range, could deliver significant benefits in terms of increased petroleum mileage. It can also contribute directly to a significant reduction in foreign oil imports by allowing a majority of cars in America to operate in clean, quiet, electric only mode with zero emissions for the first 20-50 miles. For a majority of drivers (up to 82%) who are identified in the study, a well engineered PHEV can deliver fuel economy of 100 to 200 mpg or more, for most of drivers. In order for such a car to be produced economically, several key milestones must be achieved including cost-effective energy storage, and low cost powerful electric motors that can drive the vehicle without compromising performance during all electric mode. To be accepted broadly by consumers and manufacturers alike, PHEVs must deliver hybrid benefits with comparable performance to a conventional vehicles without increasing the price of the vehicle significantly. Several key performance and pricing milestones for critical PHEV components can now be achieved due to recent breakthroughs in technology and advancements in design. The technology needed to produce PHEVs that can achieve 100-200 mpg to meet growing consumer demand at required pricing and performance may now be available and can be demonstrated in prototype vehicles. By demonstrating that a cost-effective PHEV production-ready vehicle design can now be achieved, automakers could accelerate the delivery of PHEVs to market in a profitable and sustainable way.

Need for Consortium
To help reduce the R&D gap between component suppliers and OEMs and to coordinate and accelerate the development of critical components while reducing development time greater cooperation and coordination between component suppliers and the OEM is required. The Advanced Hybrid Vehicle Development Consortium was organized to help reduce this gap and to coordinate the accelerated development of critical components for the next generation Hybrid vehicles. The Consortium members plan to develop compatible components and a cost effective working design and work with major OEMs to build a proof-of-concept 5 passenger PHEV that achieves 100-200 total mpg petroleum economy by driving its first 20 – 50 miles in all electric zero emission mode. This “Dual Mode” PHEV will then continue to operate in a high-efficiency hybrid electric mode to achieve conventional range of operation. By leading a cooperative research and development consortium with the participation of a major automobile manufacturer, PG&E and Raser can help demonstrate the benefits of PHEVs. The PHEVs will be built with “off-the-shelf” automobile components and available advanced hybrid technologies. The “proof-of-concept” hybrid vehicle will demonstrate that the benefits of a PHEV can be achieved in a cost-effective “manufacturable” design that meets consumer price and performance objectives and delivers significantly better fuel economy and more environmental benefits. An “off-the-shelf” PHEV-20 and an advanced PHEV-50 vehicle will deliver improved performance and extended vehicle range and battery life while operating for just 60 cents per equivalent gallon of gas on electric fuel.

Benefits to Consumers
The consortium provides an opportunity to demonstrate the immediate and attainable benefits of a “next generation” 5-passenger Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle that meets manufacturers performance and price objectives using technology that is currently available for production. It also results in a near production-ready prototype built with the cooperation of the OEM who can then move this technology immediately into production. This kind of car offers very tangible benefits for consumers including lower fuel costs, a choice of fuels including electric and renewable liquid fuels and clean quiet zero emission operation for most drive cycles. It also allows consumers to drive for as little as 24 cents per equivalent gallon of gas in some states and as low as 50 cents per equivalent gallon in states such as California.

Consortium Membership
The Advanced Hybrid Vehicle Development Consortium, is be made up of key component suppliers who intend to work together with participating automobile manufacturers to coordinate the development of key components and demonstrate these advanced technologies in a “next generation” plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Membership is divided into two groups, developers, made up of component suppliers and advisors, made up of complimentary organizations and companies who have compatible goals and who wish to exchange information and benefit mutually from consortium research & development. Membership is not exclusive. The consortium is building a broad base of membership and hopes to achieve membership by members who represent the most critical components including pro-tem system integrator within the next 30-45 days.

Cooperation with Other Organizations
It is important to note that there are many very important groups and organizations that have already made tremendous progress in developing and promoting Plug-In hybrid electric vehicles. The consortium hopes to work in cooperation with these organizations to share information and support each other in achieving our common goal. It is the desire of this consortium to work cooperatively with other organizations toward the ultimate goal of making PHEV technology available to automakers and to consumers. The consortium intends to make advanced components produced by the consortium commercially available to other groups, projects and organizations with compatible goals.