V2G Scion xB gives a boost to the environment and your wallet
A car that can both help the environment and add a little ‘oomph’ to your wallet – can that really exist? According to industry experts, we already possess the technology needed to make this possible. Discovery News reports that researchers showed off a retrofitted Scion xB at a meeting for the American Association for the Advancement of Science that had been equipped with prototype ‘vehicle-to-grid’ (V2G) technology.
You’re probably asking: What is V2G, and how is it supposed to help the environment or my pocketbook? ’Vehicle to Grid’ technology enables electric vehicles to “talk” to the grid. So instead of simply charging their batteries, V2G-enabled electric vehicles can actually send small amounts of electricity back to the grid when needed.
In theory, a large fleet of V2G-enabled electric vehicles could help to keep the power grid stable and it could also reduce the need for utility companies to run additional power plants during the middle of the day when the need for electricity is at its highest.
The benefit for EV owners is that the utility company would have to pay you for any electricity that your vehicle contributes. You could charge your electric vehicle at night (when rates are low) and then sell that same electricity back to the utility company the following day (when rates are high). In such a scenario, your electric vehicle becomes a source of income. The utility companies claim to be happy with this arrangement because it’s cheaper for them to pay EV owners for borrowed storage capacity than it is to build and operate additional power plants.
If V2G-enabled cars were out on the market now, would you buy one and allow the utility company to siphon off small amounts of electricity during the day?
