Impacts of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles on the Michigan Grid is a $5 million study funded by Michigan Public Service Commission; This project is investigating economic development opportunities, market and consumer acceptance, environmental performance assessment, utility systems impacts, and how PHEV can be integrated into the Michigan electricity grid. This project team consists of a large group of UM faculty and students from SNRE, Engineering, Business, ISR, and UM Transportation Research Institute collaborating with DTE Energy and GM.

A team of students in this SNRE Master’s project will conduct the environmental performance assessment of PHEV’s. This includes analyzing scenarios for new electricity generating capacity, driving behavior, charging patterns and rates of PHEV market penetration. This project is closely linked to all other project tasks and there is a tremendous opportunity for learning with other colleagues at UM and industry. Fulltime summer funding is available this year and next.