Most of us have been in this situation before; you’re up late cranking away at some work project or homework assignment as thunder and lightning dance outside your window, shaking the whole house. Then the power goes out. All your work is gone, as is your time, and you’re left with frustration and darkness until the power goes back on.
Yet imagine if power outages were a thing of the past? Electric cars could provide the answer, as well as a boost to the U.S. power grid. The U.S. Department of Energy is lending funds to several automakers, including Detroit Electric and Chrysler, in a bid to promote these technologies.
In total, the DOE has released $620 million in funds to develop a smart grid for the U.S. in preparation for electric cars, and better handling our ever-increasing energy needs. Five million of those dollars will go to Detroit Electric Co., Chrysler, NextEnergy, Kema, and National Grid, a company from Great Britain with offices in the U.S. The money is meant to spur “large-scale energy storage, smart meters, distribution and transmission system monitoring devices, and a range of other smart technologies, will act as models for deploying integrated Smart Grid systems on a broader scale,” according to the DOE.
This brings many scenarios to mind. Electric cars storing power in case of an outage, or as some have suggested, even returning some energy back to the grid. A smart grid will allow areas to convey their power needs, so energy can be shifted where it is required. Neat stuff. If the energy can actually be sold back to electric companies it will give early adopters all the more reason to make the switch from petrol to electric vehicles.
Source: Detroit News | Image:
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About Christopher DeMorro
While EV ownership is in its infancy those few kWs of assist from the early EVs would seem too modest for their neigborhood’s demand.
If intermittent renewable generation ramps up much faster than EVs replace ICE cars, then we need a faster track technology to regulate the grid’s generation / load.
Now that I’ve come across Beacon Power’s flywheel storage systems, they seem a much better fit for regulating power on the grid. Some have just been installed in Mass and they scale to many mega Watts.
While EV ownership is in its infancy those few kWs of assist from the early EVs would seem too modest for their neigborhood’s demand.
If intermittent renewable generation ramps up much faster than EVs replace ICE cars, then we need a faster track technology to regulate the grid’s generation / load.
Now that I’ve come across Beacon Power’s flywheel storage systems, they seem a much better fit for regulating power on the grid. Some have just been installed in Mass and they scale to many mega Watts.
Perhaps this is a dumb question, but wouldn’t people want to use the battery in their electric car to go places in their electric car? I don’t think I’d be very happy if I woke up in the morning and found I had no charge because my car battery was being used to make up for a brown-out overnight.
But that doesn’t mean that I don’t like the idea of using batteries to help stabilize the grid. Heck, I’d be willing to pay a couple thousand dollars for a giant sodium battery to act as a UPS for my house. I’ve already paid for a lead-acid UPS for my Mac Pro and it’s been well worth the money — no data loss from power outages and no worries about damage to the equipment from voltage irregularities. If I had a big UPS for the whole house I would no longer need to worry about power outages or surge protection for anything. My computers, TVs, etc would all last longer. That alone would be worth the price.
Perhaps this is a dumb question, but wouldn’t people want to use the battery in their electric car to go places in their electric car? I don’t think I’d be very happy if I woke up in the morning and found I had no charge because my car battery was being used to make up for a brown-out overnight.
But that doesn’t mean that I don’t like the idea of using batteries to help stabilize the grid. Heck, I’d be willing to pay a couple thousand dollars for a giant sodium battery to act as a UPS for my house. I’ve already paid for a lead-acid UPS for my Mac Pro and it’s been well worth the money — no data loss from power outages and no worries about damage to the equipment from voltage irregularities. If I had a big UPS for the whole house I would no longer need to worry about power outages or surge protection for anything. My computers, TVs, etc would all last longer. That alone would be worth the price.
Perhaps we can use PHEVs and generate the power from the gasoline engines thereby eliminating the coal burning and nuclear power plants.
John, there are massive UPS available, but a better choice would be a diesel powered generator set with an automatic change-over switch. It has much longer power continuity and costs less.
Perhaps we can use PHEVs and generate the power from the gasoline engines thereby eliminating the coal burning and nuclear power plants.
John, there are massive UPS available, but a better choice would be a diesel powered generator set with an automatic change-over switch. It has much longer power continuity and costs less.
Jonh, one of the big advantages of a EV is the fact that they will be nothing less than a computer with wells…In the “power back to grid” scenario, with the software that the car has you can make sure that the car only provides energy to the grid until a certain time, after that point the vehicle will begin to recharge to make sure that, at the time you set for the car to be ready, it is…
Never forget that a EV is, by far, a more versatile vehicle than a ICE…
Jonh, one of the big advantages of a EV is the fact that they will be nothing less than a computer with wells…In the “power back to grid” scenario, with the software that the car has you can make sure that the car only provides energy to the grid until a certain time, after that point the vehicle will begin to recharge to make sure that, at the time you set for the car to be ready, it is…
Never forget that a EV is, by far, a more versatile vehicle than a ICE…
Sorry…is “…a EV is the fact that they will be nothing less than a computer with wheels…” not “wells”…
Sorry…is “…a EV is the fact that they will be nothing less than a computer with wheels…” not “wells”…
It’s amazing this concept is still around, more amazing that it’s being funded. Unless a brand new class of EV batteries is invented (and we’re not talking a better lithium ion), the degradation of the battery in your EV by cycling it is more than the value of the electricity you can store in that cycle. So, if the utility degrades your battery $10 worth to store $1 in electricity, that would seem to be a non starter.
Plus, I’d agree with John that waking up to find your battery depleted would be inconvenient.
It’s amazing this concept is still around, more amazing that it’s being funded. Unless a brand new class of EV batteries is invented (and we’re not talking a better lithium ion), the degradation of the battery in your EV by cycling it is more than the value of the electricity you can store in that cycle. So, if the utility degrades your battery $10 worth to store $1 in electricity, that would seem to be a non starter.
Plus, I’d agree with John that waking up to find your battery depleted would be inconvenient.