Mitsubishi Motors North America is supporting the University of Southern California‘s(USC) Viterbi School of Engineering as it develops a special campus-wide smart grid Living Laboratory project including the use of Mitsubishi i-MiEV fully electric vehicles.

The Mitsubishi Motors/USC Electric Vehicle Smart Grid Demonstration Project will work to further develop and improve electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure to accommodate widespread EV usage in the future.

Mitsubishi reports that the USC Smart Grid Living Laboratory program, developed by the USC Energy Institute, “will simulate a city with a population between 50,000 to 60,000 citizens, tourists, visitors and two hospitals as they document their experiences operating a fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) under a wide range of conditions and simulations over a period of two years.”

Mitsubishi Motors North America president and chief executive officer Yoichi Yokozawa says his company “is proud to offer our support to the USC Smart Grid Living Laboratory program. This project will help cities of all sizes develop a very cost-effective electric vehicle infrastructure game plan for drivers.”

Mitsubishi Motors is providing twelve i-MiEV vehicles and several Level 2 EVSE charging systems to the Smart Grid program.

Dr. Yannis Yortsos, Dean of the Viterbi School of Engineering adds: “We are excited to build a partnership with Mitsubishi Motors in the area of electric vehicle integration into the Smart Grid that demonstrates that USC and Mitsubishi Motors are serious about the future of electric vehicles. This is a substantial electric vehicle fleet that will not only provide a useful pool of data for technical and behavioral research projects but will also have a highly visible impact on the USC community due to interaction with students, faculty, staff, alumni and the surrounding neighborhood.”

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