Has anyone else been approached to participate in the driving habits study for the research on plug-in hybrids being conducted by UC Davis?

Their Institute of Transportation Studies has something called the "Plug-In Hybrid Center". They have a number of converted Prius that they've been loaning to people to see how they are being used.

The study I was contacted for is just a small part of the project and was contracted to Harris Interactive. It requires keeping a simple driving diary. Whenever you park, you have to see if there's a plug nearby.

 

I ( wanna be ) next! Where do I sign up?

 

Don't know a thing about it. I could say that about 98% of where I drive, there are no plugs available within 300 yards, let alone accesable by the vehicle owner. The other 2% is at my house

 

HOGWASH!

Every McDonalds parking lot has a 120v outlet.
Every Hotel parking lot has a 120v outlet.
Every place I have worked over the past 20 years had an outdoor 120v outlet.

You just really aren't looking, now are you?

And as far as "stealing" power from McDonalds goes?
Your 30 minutes of "plug time" while you eat uses about the same amount of power as the hot air hand dryer in the restroom. So just take a hand towel from home when you wash your hands, and it's a trade off.

 

But I use the Drive through at Mickey-D's and am faithful to my wife so I don't frequent hotels!

Where I work at I have not seen any outdoor outlets. If there are any, I would need to part on the lawn as the parking lot (and close in spaces) are some distance from the building. There are no outlets on the light poles. At a different location there may be some in the parking garage near the stairs, but again those spaces close to the outlet / stairs are hard to come by.

When I go to the store, be it grocery, mall, home improvement, ... again, there may be an outlet somewhere, but it is not generally accessible where the parking spaces are. I am sure getting permission to use their power for my use would also be a hurdle.

Things may be different in the people’s republic of Boulder though

So I guess if I was to be part of the survey, the % where I see a outlet would be higher, being available / accessible for personal use may be different story.

 

I agree that the "outlet" is not always in your first choice of parking space.

But hey, if you are going to put up the cost / time / effort for getting a plug-in hybrid, this seems like a minor obstacle to me.

Of course, right now, this would be fun, since you would ( probably ) have the only PHEV in town.

As soon as they become commonplace, public outlets will:
#1 be hard to find one without a car already attached
#2 start to fall under lock & key

So I really only see PHEV being "plugged in" at home and work, with the employer making special arrangements such as high amp service accessible to multiple cars at once.

There is a Pizza Delivery place I just saw advertised in Minneapolis, called "galaxy pizza" I think it was. ALL of their delivery cars are BEV's.
( Battery Electric Vehicles )
Think about it. An electric car does not have lowered "fuel economy" in winter!

 

The study material says the following about parking: "This is the most important part: explore each parking spot you use. Look for an electric outlet within eyesight of your vehicle, about 50 feet. Have a look around. If you do find an outlet, imagine yourself plugging in your vehicle there. Think of how easy or difficult this might be..."

 

I would call an outlet with somthing plugged into it "unavailable". I can just see everyone going around unplugging things.

 

If the outlet is like your home outlets, there may be 2 receptacles with only 1 being used.

That question did get me to wonder; currently in the US are most PEH 110V or 220V?

Also what amperage do they normally pull?

 

I think option # 3 here would be a pay as your charge station with a current sensor that will stop providing juice when disconnected from the vehicle to help prevent someone from using your charge after you pay and walk away (IE:Credit card like pay-at-the-pump with either a flat fee or hourly rate).

Sort of picture an area like handicap parking, but for PEH and a row of pay stations.