Utilities Suggest Huge Electric Vehicle Orders
Utilities are among the groups now considering mass orders of electric vehicles from the U.S. automobile manufacturing sector, to help the auto companies make the biggest manufacturing realignment since since WWII.
The exploratory discussions are being conducted at top levels and among firms like PG&E who see plug in hybrid and all electric vehicles as a solution to uneven grid loads. Utilities have invested a great deal of research using the vehicle to grid (V2G) capabilities of plugged in electric vehicles to stabilize the grid.
The idea being considered would involve joining together to put in a substantial order to put weight behind development of Plug In Hybrids (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs). The idea is that large fleet orders would provide the certain market car makers need to make the initial move away from fossil fueled vehicles.
With their buying power (they could order 50,000 electric vehicles for their fleets) utilities could provide a solid beginning to switching Detroit to entirely new vehicle markets.
- » See also: Is the Renault-Nissan Alliance Going in Two Different Electric Car Directions?
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Talks with automakers have occurred individually and through the electric industry’s primary trade organization, the Edison Electric Institute, and include Xcel, Progress Energy, PG&E, Edison International and Wisconsin Energy Corp.
Dick Kelly, chief executive of Xcel Energy in Minneapolis said, “If we get enough of us together, we could put in a very large order and maybe a big down payment.”
Utilities gain less in increased electricity sales than in grid stabilization; evening out the load with the prospect of being able to swap electrons back and forth between a fleet of vehicles and the grid. PHEVs draw only about 1.4–2 kW of power while charging; only about what a dishwasher draws.
The benefits for the nation are huge. Plug-In Hybrids leave their Hybrid counterparts in the dust, in mileage.
For example, where the Ford Escape Hybrid gets mileage in the 20’s or 30’s, a Plug In Escape would get over 80 MPG. It has now completed a year of successful testing with Southern California Edison.
The many aftermarket Prius conversions boast over 100 MPG as Plug In Hybrids compared with about 50 MPG as a first-gen Hybrid. Aftermarket Ford truck conversions similarly get about twice the mileage of their non plugged in hybrids.
And the Chevy Volt Extended-Range EV is designed from the ground up as an EV that only gets a boost for long-distance from gas. It would get also get over 100 MPG in cross-country driving, and not need gasoline for trips under 40 miles a day.
Further development to get these to market are endangered by the auto meltdown. In fact, to some extent, we have stopped buying new vehicles precisely because we are waiting for the switch to the post gasoline era vehicles.
So, Mark Duvall, a researcher at the EPRI suggests that the best help for automakers would be a multiyear order placed in one group from utilities fleets.
That’s because early models may be money losers, so multiyear orders would help automakers achieve profitable production. He estimates fuel savings, for utilities, at $10,000 to $15,000 per car. This kind of certain ongoing manufacturing order is a very safe way to grow small businesses from scratch, and could even help restabilize the large automanufacturers in the same way now that their future is under threat.
“I would do it,” says Gale Klappa, CEO of Wisconsin Energy, adding that his utility has about 3,000 vehicles in its fleet and replaces 20% each year. Bill Johnson, chief executive of Progress Energy Inc. said, “Our industry is interested in reducing carbon-dioxide emissions, and it seems like a good idea for auto makers and us to pull together,”
He added that the idea is in a formative stage and is “gaining momentum.”
Related stories:
$50 Billion CalCars Plan to Jumpstart Detroit
Let’s Pay Detroit To Bring Their Gas Sipping Cars Home To the USA
Via the Wall Street Journal.
Image from the EPRI
“..The nightmare scenario is that lots of people buy electric cars, all get home at the same time, plug in their cars, turn on the TV and air conditioner then start cooking supper on the electric stove…”
Mark, that is very easily answered by simple use of a timer which allows the vehicle recharging to kick in at midnight. Or at staggered times before then.
It might be worth keeping a very close ear on what Ford say just before midday on Sunday 11th January in Detroit.
They are due to uncover details of their proposed all-electric battery powered van for 2010. I live in the UK, and the buzz here is that Smith Electric Vehicles might be revealed as their partner in this. The two companies have worked very very closely for over a year. Ford provided engineering design input for the Smith Ampere. The Ampere is based on the Ford Transit Connect - a van which Ford make in Turkey and Romania and which is being brought to the USA. Ford displayed a yellowcab taxi version at shows in Chicago and New York last spring. (It doesn’t take much to imagine that an all-electric taxi would work well in many cities)
Smith have been producing electric vehicles for over 80 years, in which time they’ve quietly shipped an estimated 70 thousand of them worldwide(!). They have a complete range of all-electric vans and trucks in production. They sold about 400 of them in the past year. See the Case Studies page at their website http://www.smithelectricvehicles.com
Smith is owned by Tanfield Group, a UK company quoted on the London stockmarket. And here’s the interesting bit — their main line of business is aerial work platforms. They own the UpRight and Snorkel brands, making them the world’s fourth biggest player in that field. They have in the past produced truck-mounted platforms used by utilities in maintaining street lamps etc. Snorkel has production facilities in the US, and Tanfield have hinted that floor space within them might be given over to producing electric trucks.
Check out http://www.snorkelusa.com and http://www.upright.com
Smith have previously exhibited a model called the Faraday - which is built for the US market and is based on the Ford F-650. I understand they might be showing this at the Work TRuck show in Chicago, March 4-6th 2009.
[...] vehicle to grid technology - is what will make it possible to reduce the amount of new power that we would [...]
[...] Still, the technology that Audi has developed to show off on its most high-end vehicle, will eventually trickle down to other vehicles and other manufacturers, and every conceivable increase in efficiency should be welcomed as we move toward electric vehicles. [...]
“…Replacing government vehicle fleets with hybrids or EVs. Oh wait, that’s right–there’s none available…”
Oh yes there are. It’s just that Americans very often cannot see beyond America. Check out what’s happening in Europe. Start by visiting this website http://www.smithelectricvehicles.com and, after viewing the image on the home page, go to the Case Studies page. This is a UK company that has a full range of electric vehicles. Not in prototype form for showing off at exhibitions, but in production and on the road. Fully highway capable. Around 400 of them have been bought in the past year, by hardheaded fleet managers who see an economic case for them, not just a green image case.
Their smallest vehicle, the Smith Ampere, is based on the Ford Transit Connect. Ford not only collaborated in the engineering design, but gave the Ampere floor space on the Ford stand at the CV-2008 exhibition last April. This is quite possibly the vehicle that Ford will be unveiling in Chicago in a few weeks time for the US market. At either the car show in February or the Work Truck show in March. Or could that be the larger Smith Edison? The Edison is based on the Ford Transit.
Smith also produce a truck called the Faraday. Not shown yet on their website but based on Ford’s F-650. They also produce bigger trucks - from 7.5ton to 12ton - using Avia chassis (formerly Daewoo).
These are all highway-capable with decent performance characteristics.
[...] Utilities Suggest Huge Electric Vehicle Orders Lets Pay Detroit to Bring Their Gas Sipping Cars Home to the US CalCars’ Jumpstart Detroit [...]
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