[JRRF]

Facinating tech:

Owners of electric vehicles to be paid to plug into the grid to help avoid blackouts

Electric vehicles are still relatively expensive but a trial to help them power the national grid in times of need could see owners being paid. That could make them a lot more attractive.

theconversation.com

 

[caskConditionedAle]

I guess it's no different than asking people with swimming pools and hot tubs to feed water back into the system during times of drought.

 

[JRRF]

I guess it's no different than asking people with swimming pools and hot tubs to feed water back into the system during times of drought.

Not quite

 

[Danno]

My initial reaction is - that's one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard. The author makes it sound like having several thousand EV batteries available is equivalent to having a huge battery available. It's not. Each of those EV batteries is going to have to have the equipment necessary to invert its DC to AC (and not just crappy cheap inverter AC, you'll need grid-quality waverform AC), synchronize that AC to the grid, and then backfeed it to the grid. So you've got to have that equipment available at each garage housing an EV just to get a small trickle of energy from that EV to the grid. This is the type of stupid idea that would never happen in the free market but does happen when university guys hungry for grant money pander to agenda-driven decision makers about who gets grant money.

 

[JRRF]

I think this is hardly jsut a university idea. Public power companies might clamor for this type of solution. They desperately need surge capacity without having to build more large power plants. Battery solutions of all types are already in the works for that. This just takes the idea a step further by tapping into EV batteries. Would it require some infrastructure, sure. But power companies already do equipment installs for customers to help the company save money. This might be no different. It's not going to happen tomorrow, but I believe the idea has a lot of merit. And if you don't come up with new ideas, you languish right where you are.

 

[NCEdwardM]

Seems like I saw this was already being done in northern Europe somewhere.

 

[wb4apr]

My initial reaction is - that's one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard. The author makes it sound like having several thousand EV batteries available is equivalent to having a huge battery available. It's not. Each of those EV batteries is going to have to have the equipment necessary to invert its DC to AC (and not just crappy cheap inverter AC, you'll need grid-quality waverform AC), synchronize that AC to the grid, and then backfeed it to the grid. So you've got to have that equipment available at each garage housing an EV just to get a small trickle of energy from that EV to the grid. This is the type of stupid idea that would never happen in the free market but does happen when university guys hungry for grant money pander to agenda-driven decision makers about who gets grant money.

It makes perfect sense. When 75% of cars are EV's the battery capacity is about equal to the entire electric generating capacity of the entire country. That's a lot of juice. And the batteries are only needed for load leveling and managing the 60 Hz frequency. Some trials offer free EV charging year round in exchange for a little juice on demand. The grid is willing to pay 10 times the going rate for your batterey juiice for a few minutes. In exchange you get free EV charging. ANd syncing to the grid Is trivial. Every solar home does it and you can even buy Grid-tie inverters for around $100. SO surely the car MFRS can do a great job in integrating the V2G when needed.
Bob

 

[wordptom]

This subject is also known as Vehicle to Grid technology, or V2G... I quickly located these three links to the subject, including one that was posted just yesterday that continues the discussion of the efforts being made in Australia...

To quote from the recent article:

The ACT project's research leader, Bjorn Sturmberg from the Australian National University, said the trial would assess how well a car fleet could balance supply and demand across the network.

"When electric cars are plugged in, they could be called on in a heartbeat to avoid a mass power outage," Dr Sturmberg said.

"They'll only have to do this a couple of dozen times a year — when there's a storm or some other emergency in the grid — which means the grid needs power really quickly.

"The batteries in the electric vehicles can then inject power in a fraction of a second."

Can Your Electric Car Be Used to Help Power the Grid?

Can your Electric Car be Used to Help Power the Grid? A Southern California Edison demonstration project explores whether EV batteries are a viable resource to help power the electrical system.

energycentral.com

Vehicle to Grid | The Mobility House

With Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology, we are stabilizing the power grid and shaping the future of energy management.

www.mobilityhouse.com

Electric cars to be plugged into power grid in hope of protecting Australia against blackouts

Fifty one vehicles in Canberra will be part of a trial — the first of its kind in Australia — to gauge how well car batteries can stabilise the electricity network against damaging surges.

www.abc.net.au

 

[caskConditionedAle]

I say screw the grid. If there is a massive power failure and the apocalypse is nigh, I'm disconnecting my car and saving my power to get away from the zombies.

 

[siris]

It's no secret that the choice of a car should be approached very carefully. This is not just furniture, this is a vehicle that should serve you for at least a few years. At the same time, it should not break down, fail, deliver any inconvenience. This is especially true for those cars that are bought on the secondary market. Before buying, you need a car vin number check so that you are not deceived.

 

[JRRF]

It's no secret that the choice of a car should be approached very carefully. This is not just furniture, this is a vehicle that should serve you for at least a few years. At the same time, it should not break down, fail, deliver any inconvenience. This is especially true for those cars that are bought on the secondary market. Before buying, you need a car vin number check so that you are not deceived.

My furniture lasts a lot longer than any car I've eve owned. Some is even multi-generational.

 

[Amperisti]

Looks like in some part of the world they are pretty much ready to do business with V2G solutions.
Link to Virta V2G page

 

[siris]

My furniture lasts a lot longer than any car I've eve owned. Some is even multi-generational.

With a car, everything is much more complicated.