DOE and Sweden to Advance Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles

DOE and the Swedish Energy Agency have agreed to work together to accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and to prepare consumers for the coming technology. Alexander Karsner, DOE’s Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), and Tomas Kaberger, Director General of the Swedish Energy Agency, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on PHEVs on July 7. Under the MOU, DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory will work with Test Site Sweden to investigate PHEV instrumentation and smart charging systems, and how they interact with the electrical grid; track and evaluate consumer behavior while testing the vehicles in the field; quantify national, utility, and customer benefits; and plan and develop convenient public charging stations. The 1-year, $1 million cost-sharing arrangement will be funded equally by DOE and the Swedish Energy Agency. See the DOE press release.

This MOU builds on the agreement signed by Assistant Secretary Karsner and Swedish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Enterprise and Energy Maud Olofsson in June 2007, under which DOE and Sweden agreed to cooperate on biomass production; transportation and automotive research; reducing the cost of renewable energy; and improving energy efficiency. See information about the original MOU on the International page of the EERE Web site.