CU Boulder, NREL to test Toyota hybrids

A joint venture of the University of Colorado at Boulder and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden will conduct a field study of plug-in hybrid cars for Toyota starting this month, CU announced Tuesday.

The joint venture is called the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, or RASEI.

The study for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. will focus on “household experiences and the technical impacts of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHVs, in a ‘smart grid’ environment,” the CU announcement said.

Xcel Energy Inc. has used Boulder as a test market for smart-grid technology aimed at improving power reliability, providing customers with real-time information about their energy use, and allowing remote control of energy use. Xcel is involved in the Toyota field study.

Toyota will supply 18 Prius PHVs for the two-year RASEI program in Boulder. The cars, which are scheduled to be delivered later this month, will be used in three-month stints by 108 volunteer Boulder households.

The Boulder project “will gather data on vehicle performance and electricity usage, as well as how households interact with vehicle feedback through smart grid technology. The Boulder location also presents the opportunity for researchers to monitor the performance of Toyota’s first-generation lithium-ion battery at high altitudes and in cold weather,” CU said.

Sustainable Business Oregon, a Portland-based sister news website of the Denver Business Journal, reported in April that Toyota will place 150 new Prius PHVs, equipped with lithium-ion batteries, in Boulder and several other sites as part of the company’s global demonstration program.

The Prius plug-in hybrid is equipped like other Prius cars with a hybrid engine. But unlike other hybrids currently available, the plug-in Prius will be able to take trips of up to 15 miles on an electric charge without engaging the gas engine.

Toyota’s program aims to confirm, in a variety of real-world applications, the overall performance of Toyota’s first-generation lithium-ion battery technology, while spurring the development of a charging station infrastructure that’s accessible and available to drivers.

Denver Business Journal