An Update on Vehicle-to-Grid
What’s happening in “vehicle-to-grid” (V2G), the concept of using an intelligent, bidirectional flow of electrons between electric vehicles and the power grid? Well, at a macro level, the honest answer is: not much. Pretty much everyone would like to live in a world without gasoline and diesel, where our automobiles–as well as our buildings–are powered by a carefully monitored blend of renewable resources and energy is moved about seamlessly from point to point as required in real-time. But getting there is the ultimate in the chicken and the egg phenomenon, i.e.,
• market conditions do not and will not exist for all this at scale until the penetration of electric transportation is at least an order of magnitude greater than it is now, and
• the market for electric vehicles is hamstrung by a feeble charging infrastructure.
Yet it would be incorrect to say that no progress is being made. I urge readers to check out what BMW announced at last week’s Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition (EVS29) held
in Montreal, as reported by my fine friend and colleague Jon LeSage in the current edition of his Green Auto Digest, from which the following is an excerpt:
BMW introduced its energy storage system that taps into the resources of its BMW i3 vehicle battery – and that can be integrated seamlessly with charging stations and solar panels. The system utilizes BMW i3 high-voltage batteries and can be expanded to incorporate second-life batteries as they become available in the market, BMW says. Users of the energy storage system can offset peak energy costs and will have access to backup energy supply during power outages. BMW is adding its new product to the energy story market segment that others automakers had previously entered including Tesla, Daimler, and Nissan.
I wonder if the approach could use some tweaking. We have seen Tesla’s offering of batteries for homes outsell production. There is definitely a market.
Most cars are idle for 23 hours a day. Being able to use your vehicle for a house battery back up may be a solid and very marketable application.
Honda, Mitsubishi and Nissan played with a separate box that adapts the car battery to line voltage but what was available was very limited.
** http://www.autotrader.com/car-news/nissan-shows-another-use-for-the-electric-car-emergency-power-170267
** http://evobsession.com/use-your-electric-car-to-power-your-home-with-honda-power-exporter/
Such an application might tend to boost EV sales to existing PV owners and encourage others to acquire both.
This requires considerable thought and analysis. One must consider the battery capacity of the EV and when the EV would be connected to the grid. Obviously most owners of single homes could leave their EVs connected to the grid at night but not necessarily during the day. Exactly when would the charging and discharging occur? And by how much would the battery life be reduced? There are many other questions which must be answered.
I believe a first step before general application of vehicle to grid would be smart charging.
Suppose you park your vehicle on arriving home at 6pm, and know you don’t intend to drive again until 8am. You have a quarter charge left which is more than enough for emergencies such as a family member needing to visit the ER, and want 80% charge by 8am to cover tomorrow’s activities.
The weather forecast shows a weather front passing through with high winds expected between midnight and 6am.
The Smart charger takes into account the likelihood of high wind power output – defers the start of charge until midnight and adjusts the charging rate second by second to facilitate grid balancing completing the charge cycle by 6am. Likewise, whilst the vehicle is parked at a work charging station during the day, the charging algorithm can take similar account of the balance of supply and demand to help stabilise the grid and or make optimum use of on site solar power.
This approach will not hammer the batteries in the same way as vehicle to grid whilst achieving most of the same grid stability advantages.
With enough electric vehicles plugged in at any given time, they could collectively represent hundreds of MW of effective spinning reserve with charging able to be up or down regulated at a moment’s notice depending whether the grid has too much or too little power at any given moment
Vehicle to grid could be an extra cost option for charging stations – primarily to cover emergency situations though there would need to be safe “islanding” to prevent power going back into the grid during power cuts and presenting a safety hazard. With this, following a storm surge or earthquake, a call could go out for electric and plug in hybrid vehicles to go to clinics and evacuation centers to provide emergency back up until the grid can be re-established. For home charging stations, the vehicle owner would be the beneficiary of the emergency back up, whilst in other situations, a payment could be made to the vehicle owner – for a business dependent on electricity, it has got to be worth paying $2 or even $20 per kWh for a couple of hours during a general blackout if doing keeps the business running as the cost of lost business could be far higher.
At the present state of battery technology, I would not suggest full vehicle to grid use on a frequent basis due to impact on battery life, however batteries are getting better and cheaper so in 10 years we could well be in a very different situation.
Hi Craig,
Good news ! You can live in a world without gasoline and diesel for your personal needs today !
Step One : Invest (I’m sure you already have) in a really good home Solar power system.
Step Two: Get up early, buy a Tesla model S P85 or 90. If you need a second vehicle, purchase a GM Volt, BMW i3 (with optional range extender) or if you need a larger vehicle, a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. These vehicle need never use their conventional fuel capacity is carefully used.
Problem solved ! Your Tesla has the range to take you to most US destinations, and Tesla’s supercharging network covers most important destinations, and is advancing rapidly.
Tesla will soon add the hundreds of retail gasoline and convenience outlets operated by Sheetz across six states,( mostly in the mid-Atlantic) to it’s already very comprehensive network.
Buy today, before the generous Californian tax credits are withdrawn. I realize this may cost a little more than a diesel vehicle, but what price can you put on your principles eh?
C’mon, do it today ! Lead by example. Come an join the rest of us EV enthusiasts and ride on electrons !:)
( Oh, by the way, while you’re in the mood how about trading in that old ride on mower, leaf blower, etc for electric garden tools ?)
Ha! Btw, I would never own a leaf blower; I think they are obscenities, not only in terms of their emissions, but also the noise.
Craig,
An electric leaf blower is silent, and emission free.
But seriously, I think it’s a fair question to ask, why haven’t you purchased a Tesla ? The small extra cost per week in lease payments is insignificant when compared with the excellent build quality and environmental impact of the vehicle.
Tesla is an astounding achievement ! Every American who cares anything about the environment should own a Tesla.
In Australia we have a very active and well supported Green Party. The scored more than 1.2 million votes in the last Senate election (11%) of the popular vote. Yet for all their passionate advocacy, not one single member supported the first commercially produced, 4 door EV sedan produced in Australia !
In fact, only 16 Blade Electrons were sold in Australia (I bought two)the remainder of the production run was sold in NZ. The ‘Greens’ showed no interest.
The Australian Greens are what I describe as “watermelons”, green on the outside but red all the way through ! Woolly idealists, controlled by the old socialist left.
How can any movement gain the confidence of the general public, if it’s leading advocates don’t support clean tech on a personal basis ?
I know I’ve been a little critical of Cameron and others who love to philosophize and loudly pronounce stentorian condemnation on other “heretic’s” (albeit in classical terms to add gravitas), but of what value, when he doesn’t support clean tech from his own pocket ? (even when his fellow taxpayer is willing to contribute).
As an investor and producer of Clean Tech, I try hard to provide an example in my personal choices.
Boris Johnson confounds his critics because, despite being a conservative politician, he lacks hypocrisy.
At a recent “Town Hall ” debate he devastated his leftist critics and their noisy young supporters, by arriving early on his famous bicycle, just as it was being explained that his opponents were late due to traffic delays.
Cunningly,he never referred to the incident, but it set a certain tone, and his reception from a normally very hostile audience, lacked the usual vehemence. His candour, good humour and sincerity compared favorably with the hysteria of the more extreme members of the audience who only succeeded in alienating their own supporters.
The point I’m trying to make, is if we don’t support Clean Tech in our own lives, instead rely upon demanding impractical and unrealistic ‘grand schemes’ requiring government support and taxpayer funding, then why should anyone else take us seriously ?
Craig, please don’t take offense, but when you and ol’ Cameron are sitting around ruminating on how ‘Big oil ‘ owns the US Congress, have you ever thought, ” by golly, we should both just rush out and buy a car from that nice young Elon Musk fella ! That’ll show those fellas at 5959 Las Colinas Boulevard,Irving, Texas ” ?
( I should disclose I’m a Tesla owner and shareholder).
Marcopolo,
My fair dinkum electric leaf blower is anything but silent. However, it is less noisy than one with a gasoline (petrol) engine.
I don’t have an electric or hybrid car. However, my 2004 Mazda 3 is fairly economical and it has only 20,000 miles (32,258 kilometers) on it so the amount of fuel I use driving it isn’t important. Under the circumstances, it really wouldn’t make sense to replace it. With my motorcycle I get a bit over 50 mpg. So, I think that the vehicles people drive isn’t necessarily an indication of how environmentally responsible they are if they drive very little.
That said, I do agree that we should minimize CO2 emissions in our own lives.
Hi Frank,
You are correct, all leaf blowers emit a certain amount of noise from the fan. However, there are several makes that are pretty quiet. It’s lawn mowers that are really environmentally harmful.(and noisy)
What you drive is a matter of your personal choice, and I support your right to chose.
However, you’re not a strident advocate condemning “Oil Company employees as “evil”, nor insisting that because oil companies “own” congress, you are enslaved and compelled to buy their products.
I would estimate, that like myself, you are a moderate environmentalist seeking realistic solutions and not caught up in the grandiloquent rhetoric of the “Grand Crusade”.
But surely it’s a fair question to ask “Crusaders”.
When advocates like Cameron suddenly fall silent when asked about their level of personal commitment, it’s equally fair to ponder whether he is genuinely committed to improving the environment, or only using environmental issues to pursue a covert ideological/political agenda.
I absolutely agree, the environmental harm created by your Mazda 3, is insignificant. (much less than your motorbike).
Purchasing an EV would do very little in reducing emissons, but the point I’m making is for only a little more expense you could be helping to support a new manufacturer establish EV technology as mainstream.
For years “green” advocates ranted on about how the auto companies were in conspiracy with big oil and government, to suppress EV technology.
Now, when excellent models are on sale using EV technology, those same strident advocates avoid purchasing citing a variety of reasons, but none relevant. (It’s also interesting that they still bleat the conspiracy mantra).
Americans spill more than 21 million gallons of 2/4 stroke mixture in filling garden machinery each year, and that doesn’t include usage emissions !
A ride-on mower can emit more green house emissions than 10 cars !
Perhaps I’m too hard, but when I meet strident ” anti” advocates, I assess the level of genuine commitment by actions in their personal lives. (I have no issue with advocates who cheerfully admit failing to practice what they preach).
But those who remain silent about their own failings, while loudly condemning others, must be judged as insincere and hypocrites.
Marcopolo,
Much 2-stroke lawn machinery has been replaced by 4-stroke. It looks as though 2-stroke engines are on the way out. In some lakes, it is now illegal to use 2-stroke outboard engines. 4-stroke brush cutters are available.
The better 2-stroke engines pollute much less than they used to. Direct fuel injection keeps unburned gasoline from mixing with the exhaust. Automatic oil injection is controlled according to engine operating conditions so less oil is used. Even so, I don’t see how they can ever be made as clean as 4-stroke engines.
If I were buying a new car I’d certainly consider a hybrid. The sales of the Toyota Priapus have really picked up. I noticed that almost all of the taxis at the Los Angeles airport were hybrids.
Some years ago I was surprised to see that many Sierra Club members had big SUVs (UTEs). Considering that the Sierra Club is basically an environmental organization I would have expected most members to have more economical vehicles. Former vice president Gore, a strong environmentalist, has an extra huge mansion which gobbles electricity. So, you are right about some environmentalists.
Hi Frank,
Thank you for your reply, it’s appreciated. It’s a pity that despite considerable goading, other more,…ah…vocal advocates, didn’t take the opportunity to share the reasoning behind their own automotive choices ! Ah well, I guess it’s a case of ‘ by their deeds, they shall be known’ 🙂
Hybrids, especially PHEV and range extended hybrids are great performers and a valuable stepping stone to EV adoption. Prius big brother, the Camry hybrid is also worth considering.
But what’s wrong with a Chevy Volt ? (apart from GM’s appalling marketing campaign).
I appreciate your comment regarding the improvements in two an four stoke technology, but it doesn’t alter the fact that these are the easiest machines to replace with EV technology in most instances.
Yet such humble improvements get lost in the cacophony of political/ideological “Crusaders’ all shouting for unrealistic objectives, while real progress is hindered by such activity.
Marcopolo,
I definitely think that hybrid and electric vehicles have a future. How quickly they will replace classical drive trains remains to be seen.
In theory, I tend to favor the Chevy Volt approach because it will go farther on battery power alone than the Toyota approach. The battery alone approach has range limitations which limit their acceptance but that could change.
Here in the U.S., gasoline is required to contain a certain amount of ethanol. One, but not the only problem with that, is that ethanol is hygroscopic. After the fuel has absorbed a certain amount of moisture, a solution of water and ethanol settles to the bottom of the fuel tank creating problems. The result is that hybrid cars have to burn a certain amount fuel just to keep the fuel fresh even if the owner never exceeds the all electric range. It will be very difficult to eliminate the ethanol requirement because the ethanol industry, which includes farmers, has powerful lobbies.
The full advantage of EVs and range-extender type hybrids will not be realized until grid power is clean and CO2-free. Right now they seem more economical than they are because there is no road tax on electricity but there is on gasoline. That is certain to change eventually.
You may be happy to know I used an electric lawn mower for the two houses I owned which had grass lawns. It is somewhat difficult to get people to use electric lawnmowers because it takes a bit of practice to deal with the cord and one must use a different pattern of mowing. I never did cut a cord, but cutting them is not uncommon. My present house has no grass. This is practically a desert and we are encouraged to use as little water as possible. Minimizing the use of water is another environmental issue.