At the 2009 SAE Hybrid Symposium results were presented from several phases of a multi-year, multi-study market research agenda on hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) at UC Davis. That agenda continues to be fulfilled, and at the 2010 Symposium the analysis of consumer markets will be updated and put into a new context especially as the UC Davis’ household PHEV demonstration project has progressed from a few participants last year to over 70 households who have now driven a converted Prius for four to six weeks. The discussion will highlight recharging behaviors, prospective PHEV designs created by respondents, the importance of social networks in the spread of information and the creation of respondents’ valuations of PHEVs, and the effects of feedback to drivers on their driving and recharging. Using the extensive and repeated contacts researchers have with participating households, we are able to retell their experience in the form of narratives—literally, a story of what these households encounter with a new technology.
