Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. says it is integrating 10 Prius plug-in hybrid electric vehicles with Xcel Energy's SmartGridCity project in Boulder, Colo. The vehicles will be the subject of an interdisciplinary research project coordinated by the University of Colorado at Boulder's Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI), a joint venture between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the university.
RASEI, Xcel Energy and Toyota will use the program to gather data on vehicle performance and charging patterns, consumer behavior and preferences, electric utility/customer interactions, and battery performance.
The 10 vehicles participating in the project are part of a 150-vehicle demonstration fleet set to arrive in the U.S. early next year. The vehicles are targeted for delivery to the SmartCityGrid project in March 2010.
SOURCE: Toyota
