Posts Tagged ‘Grid’

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?

Most of the people I know would jump at the opportunity to own an electric vehicle (EV).  New, sexy, quiet and good for the environment — that’s what we all want!

That’s the exact sentiment that municipal governments, city planners and your local electric utilities are worried about.  Unfortunately the current electrical grid doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure or the capacity to handle a significant influx in EVs.  Here are a few of the problem areas:

1.  Insufficient Charging Infrastructure: For the millions of Americans that live in apartments, condos, townhomes, or for that matter, any house without an outlet in the garage:  Where do you plug-in your new EV?  My apartment doesn’t have a EV charging station at the curb and I certainly don’t plan on running an extension cord out the window of my third story apartment building.

2.  Insufficient Capacity:  A rapid increase in the use of EVs would require improvements to local grids, involving new transformers or completely overhauled substations.

3.  No Downtime:  In order to maintain high levels of transfer capacity, copper power lines need sufficient time to cool down.  In our current system, low-demand evenings provide the necessary time for that cooling to take place.  If people start plugging in their cars at night, that down time disappears and so does the reliability of our gird.

4.  Increased Accidents: Quiet cars increase the potential for accidents with pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.  When crossing the street, riding a bicycle and changing lanes on a motorcycle we rely heavily on what we hear.  As the rumble of an internal combustion engine gets replaced with the almost silent electric engine, that first step out into the street, or silent lane change becomes more dangerous.

So, the verdict is out.  While a lot of us would love to drive a Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, or Tesla Model S, we don’t know if our energy gird is ready.  What are your thoughts?

Will EVs penetrate our current car culture enough to make a significant impact?

Will the necessary grid improvements be completed before EV demand spikes, or will the EV market be held back by an insufficient system?

For more reading on this topic, check out this story from Wired.com.

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