E-cars for grid storage
LINK
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-electric-cars-20131229,0,5640652.story#axzz2ouKFg56e
Electric cars may hold solution for power storage
In a Delaware pilot project, electricity is stored in and retrieved from the batteries of idle vehicles. Car owners would be paid.
By Evan Halper
December 29, 2013, 5:00 a.m.
NEWARK, Del. The thick blue cables and white boxes alongside an industrial garage here look like those in any electric-car charging station. But they work in a way that could upend the relationship Americans have with energy.
The retrofitted Mini Coopers and other vehicles plugged into sockets where a Chrysler plant once stood do more than suck energy out of the multi-state electricity grid. They also send power back into it.
With every zap of juice into or out of the region's fragile power network, the car owner gets paid.
The pilot project here at the University of Delaware has had enough success to set off a frenzy of activity in the auto and electricity industries, particularly in California, where Gov. Jerry Brown's transportation plan this year promoted "vehicle-to-grid" technology.
Entrepreneurs and government agencies see the technology as a possible solution to a vexing dilemma: how to affordably store renewable energy so it can be available when it is needed, not only when the wind blows or the sun shines.
"This is a fascinating option," said Robert Weisenmiller, chair of the California Energy Commission. "The technology works. You can do this. The question is what do we need to do to make it happen?"
California has the nation's most aggressive goals for renewable power and also wants to put 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road over the next decade. State officials say vehicle-to-grid technology could point toward a way to accomplish both goals faster, for less money.
The idea is that utilities would pay vehicle owners to store electricity in the batteries of electric vehicles when the power grid has a surplus and drain electricity back out of them when demand rises.
The plan takes advantage of a key fact about cars: They spend most of their time parked. The technology makes idle vehicles a source of storage for utilities and cash for car owners.
The "Cash Back Car" is how the concept is described by Jon Wellinghoff, the recently retired chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. "It provides another incentive for people to buy electric cars," he said.
The technology could solve a potentially serious problem. The power grid, a massive tangle of power plants, transformers and thousands of miles of wire, needs to maintain a steady and balanced flow of power. Sudden surges threaten crashes that can cause blackouts. That makes the stop-and-go nature of energy from the wind and sun a constant source of worry.
A cost-effective method of storing renewable energy and controlling its flow into the system has long eluded the energy industry, which has taken to calling storage the "Holy Grail."
Of course, nothing with electricity is simple. To begin with, carmakers are not in the business of keeping the electricity grid stable. They build cars to perform on the road and worry what all this usage will do to their batteries.
"Almost without exception, their first response is, 'If you use my battery for that purpose, we will void the warranty,'" said Tom Gage, chief executive of EVGrid, a California vehicle-to-grid technology company.
Innovators in the field are gradually convincing car manufacturers of the potential to create a "value proposition for the car owner" and thus boost sales, Gage said. Ultimately, however, carmakers may be put at ease by experiments being conducted by the military.
The Navy has begun an intensive study with MIT to test batteries used only for driving against those that are plugged into the grid for storage.
And the week before Christmas, the Pentagon transported 13 Nissan Leafs to a Southern California Edison charging facility in Pomona as part of a $20-million program involving dozens of vehicles at Los Angeles Air Force Base and the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake.
The Pentagon hopes to eventually employ the technology at bases across the country, which could jump-start mass production of the chargers and software involved.
"We're looking to determine if we can make electric vehicles cost-competitive with conventional vehicles," said Camron Gorguinpour, executive director of the Defense Department's Plug-In Electric Vehicle Program. The department pays about $200 per month to lease a Nissan Leaf. Using a vehicle to store energy, he said, could generate enough revenue to offset most of that cost.
"You could pay close to nothing for the lease," he said.
But battery wear is just one hurdle. An even bigger challenge is reshaping utility regulations, electricity markets and the complicated tangle of algorithms that form the backbone of the grid.
"It can be an administrative nightmare to have a bunch of little power sources being fed into the grid," said Scott Shepard, an analyst at Navigant Consulting.
Staff members at the California Public Utilities Commission are exploring the regulatory changes that would be needed.
Utilities may prefer other emerging technologies that could prove more lucrative. Power companies typically make money by investing in large plants and charging customers enough to provide a guaranteed rate of return. There are no large storage plants involved with vehicle storage.
Nevertheless, back in Delaware, the professor who gave birth to the program, Willett Kempton, is gratified to see the concept taking hold.
He first proposed the idea in a paper in 1997. Researchers had begun their hunt for storage options. The electric car industry was also starting to have success. Kempton hit on the idea of combining the two.
"In industrialized countries, the average car battery is used only one hour per day," he noted. Why not put the storage devices to work?
Ten years later, he had a concept car up and running and demonstrated the technology in front of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission headquarters in Washington, where regulators could see, for the first time, a car sending juice back to the grid.
This year, the university began getting paid for power storage created by its fleet of Minis. And just this month, Honda provided a vehicle to the pilot.
"There is momentum behind this idea," Kempton said. "These batteries are a huge resource, and we are going to need them."
ehalper@tribune.com
Copyright 2013, Los Angeles Times
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Interesting concept. A battery will only take so many charges. If my car were involved, I would be concerned about battery life and new batteries for the car are outrageously expensive.
Great point Grump . That is the big issue for e-cars for the foreseeable future even without the grid storage . I don't know what the US Navy expects to accomplish here .
I can see what they are trying to do, I can't see how they would implement it. Would we need a whole new structure to do this ......?
It makes more sense to me to research and develop appliances, tools, etc that require less power to operate. The refrigerator is the hardest working appliance in your house and it sucks power like crazy. Dishwashers and washing machines that used less power to do the same job (slower would be ok by me, too) make a whole lot more sense than storing power in your car's batteries. Look at how much power is used by a refrigerated air conditioner unit on your home - it's freaking outrageous.
And, to make us think that Congress has done something to help with our energy consumption, incandescent light bulbs are being phased out. BFD ! It's not enough.
WTF? That's just crazy, Mike. Try to do the right thing and get nailed for it.
That seems accurate . I recall reading about a new fridge design which cuts way down on energy usage . It used an ascending rack which moved the food upwards and out of the fridge top instead of opening a front door .
Right ! In factincandescents help to heat your house during the winter ...
I noticed that on your article . There is actually a logical reason for that . E-cars do not pay fuel tax . When they get to be numerous [in a few decades ] the government will lose tax revenue ... which is supposed to be used to repair highways & roads .
E cars don't pay fuel tax, but you do pay tax on the electricity you use to charge your car. Also, everyone is already paying a hefty fee for a license plate, registration and such.
Screw cars. Take them away from everybody. Public transportation is the way to go, but our public transportation system is horrible. Besides, you can't get there from here.
I wanted to go from Albuquerque, NM, to Austin, TX, by train. I would have had to go through Chicago and it took 4 days. Buahahahaha. Needless to say, I didn't take the train.
Good point . But I'm gonna guess that those taxes will not be nearly as much as the equivalent gasoline tax . However , I expect Colo is being far too premature in taxing e-cars at this early stage .
At this point, taxing E cars is ridiculous. Just charge everybody - no matter what kind of car they drive - a shitload for their license and registration and be done with it. That is simple, easy bookkeeping that doesn't require a whole new department with staff, computers, desks, a building and so on to manage, track etc etc.
TOKYO -- Sekisui Chemical has developed a material that can triple the capacity of lithium ion batteries, allowing electric vehicles to travel about 600km on a single charge -- roughly as far as gasoline-powered cars can go without refilling.
...
Sekisui Chemical plans to begin sample shipments to domestic and overseas battery manufacturers as early as next summer, with mass production to kick off in 2015.
Most utilities are already govt regulated as to price . They don't randomly force price hikes on the populace .
In any case there are other reasons why such a revolt is unlikely :
Those who sign up are getting paid . Revolting would mean a loss of income .
Signing up would probably require a contract of some sort . Revolting would violate that contract .
Price hikes also happen in socialist countries and communist countries . Utilities are regulated by the govt and do not operate as pure capitalist enterprises . But have fun obsessing about the evils of capitalism . When you do expect to be laughed at ...
Price hikes are a function of the global energy market . If new supplies are found [eg. natural gas] prices will decrease .
As I said previously there is no reason it could not be implemented with contractual obligations . As to the fantasy about "Anarchy, suburban style" , home owners don't like losing power completely . That is the likely result of your anarchistic fantasy carried to its conclusion .
Are you willing to start this "revolt" publically ? When people can't heat their homes they will be looking for someone to hang to the nearest utility pole . Are you gonna' volunteer for that ?
Even if you were able to drive an e-car [under different circumstances ] ?
That sounds impressive until you look at the realities . People getting paid to "loan" the use of their batteries to the utility have no reason to foment . But thanks for playing ...
The average suburbs are no longer thriving . But that is pretty much irrelevant . The utility program would be strictly voluntary . Those making such a commitment would do so by choice . Why would they attempt to sabotage their own power co ? Why would you ?