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In order to determine the overall fuel economy of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), the amount of operation in charge depleting (CD) versus charge sustaining modes must be determined. Mode of operation is predominantly dependent on customer usage of the vehicle and is therefore highly variable. The utility factor (UF) concept was developed to quantify the distance a group of vehicles has traveled or may travel in CD mode. SAE J2841 presents a UF calculation method based on data collected from travel surveys of conventional vehicles. UF estimates have been used in a variety of areas, including the calculation of window sticker fuel economy, policy decisions, and vehicle design determination. The EV Project, a plug-in electric vehicle charging infrastructure demonstration being conducted across the United States, provides the opportunity to determine the real-world UF of a large group of privately owned Chevrolet Volt extended range electric vehicles.

A123Systems’ Hymotion™ L5 Plug-in Conversion Module (PCM) is a supplemental battery system that converts the Toyota Prius hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) into a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). The Hymotion module is a lithium ion battery pack with ∼5.0 kWh of capacity. It recharges by plugging into a standard 110/120V outlet. The system was designed to more than double the Prius’ fuel efficiency for 30 to 50 km of charge depleting range. The Hymotion L5 PCM is the first commercially available aftermarket product complying with NHTSA impact standards. Since 2006, over 50 initial production Hymotion Plug-in Conversion Modules have been installed in private fleet vehicles across the United States and Canada and monitored for performance. With the help of the Idaho National Laboratory, which conducts the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity (AVTA), A123Systems collected and analyzed real-time vehicle data from each fleet vehicle.

Today’s electric vehicle (EV) owners charge their vehicles mostly at home and seldom use public direct current fast charger (DCFCs), reducing the need for a large deployment of DCFCs for private EV owners. However, due to the emerging interest among transportation network companies to operate EVs in their fleet, there is great potential for DCFCs to be highly utilized and become economically feasible in the future. This paper describes a heuristic algorithm to emulate operation of EVs within a hypothetical transportation network company fleet using a large global positioning system data set from Columbus, Ohio. DCFC requirements supporting operation of EVs are estimated using the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Projection tool. Operation and installation costs were estimated using real-world data to assess the economic feasibility of the recommended fast charging stations.