Cost and Emissions impacts of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles on Ohio Power Grid

This paper analyzes the impacts of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) charging on the Ohio power system to estimate the net cost and emissions impacts of PHEV use. We consider two charging scenarios—one in which the grid operator makes charging decisions and another in which these decisions are made by individual vehicle owners and consider cases with PHEV penetrations of between 1% and 5%. Results show that PHEV use would result in a close to 70% reduction in gasoline consumption compared to conventional vehicles and a 50% reduction in driving costs. The emissions impacts are more mixed, with some pollutants being reduced and other increased, due to use of coal-fired generation in Ohio