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NEWS
Auto industry and power companies join forces
Car makers and electricity generators – a match made in the Cloud?Battery/electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids could be a major new revenue stream for power generation companies – if the public warms to the fuel-conserving cars as the automotive industry hopes.
But as lucrative as the electrification of the automotive industry may prove for the power supply companies, it's not without some potential pitfalls. A problem long acknowledged by the industry is the little matter of charging up battery-powered vehicles without imposing an unsustainable drain on the national power grid.
In just the past week, BMW, Ford and GM (in a joint effort with Chrysler, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi and Toyota) have announced details of a new alliance in the USA to reduce the load on the American power grid once plug-in hybrids and battery/electric vehicles become commonplace.
The idea revolves around timing vehicle recharging so that the load is spread. Sure, you could rush out to plug your car into the mains power outlet in the garage and flick the switch during an ad break between 'Futurama' and 'The Simpsons', but the car can hold off recharging its own battery until the wee small hours of the morning, if that will save the whole neighbourhood from being struck down by brown-out.
In America they're already thinking ahead, along exactly those lines. Needless to say, the cars will have to be 'smart cars' with their own wireless comms system to liaise with the power utility.
"As electric vehicles become more prevalent in the marketplace, it will present some unique challenges and opportunities for utilities who manage the flow of the electric grid," said Dan Bowermaster, manager of electric transportation at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
"The focus of this collaboration is to create a standard program that will allow utilities to work with different types of plug-in vehicles to more efficiently manage their demand on the grid."
The eight car companies in America have got on board with EPRI, the coordinating body for a pilot program to get the ball rolling. EPRI is also working closely with 15 power utilities throughout the USA. It's hoped that not only will the phased charging reduce power reliability concerns, it should save consumers money too, ensuring that vehicle battery recharging takes place in off-peak hours as far as possible. The collaborators in the project are testing communications standards established by the Society of Automotive Engineers, the the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the Open Automated Demand Response Alliance (OpenADR) for electric vehicles.
"This collaboration will make it easier for electric vehicle drivers to save money by enabling the utility to schedule charging for times during the day when demand for electricity is relatively low," said Cliff Fietzek, Manager BMW Connected eMobility Group.
"In addition to this collaboration, BMW is developing technology that will allow our customers to easily control when and how their cars charge, and also to seamlessly integrate with home solar power generation and energy management systems," Fietzek was also quoted saying in a press release.
Ford's MyFord Mobile App will be an integral part of the comms solution, says Mike Tinskey, the company's associate global director of electrification infrastructure.
"This innovative platform provides a critical enabler for the next step in vehicle electrification," said Tinskey. "It's a way for plug-in electric vehicle drivers to be financially rewarded for their willingness to help manage the electric grid."
MyFord will provide a true dialogue between the car and its owner, with the power utility, even reversing the energy flow back to the power grid for those occasions when domestic and industrial energy needs are massive – but the car's owner has parked the car for the night.
Over at GM, the company's telematics system, OnStar, will be key to transferring back back and forth between car and power utility. And General Motors is the first to admit that developing a uniform standard from the very start – with other key players involved – will ensure that new procedures and innovations will be that much easier to implement down the track.
"One thing that's missing from most Smart Grid programs is a sense of collaboration," said Tim Nixon, chief technology officer, Global Connected Consumer, GM. "Companies will showcase a meaningful solution, but without widespread acceptance in the industry, its usability is limited. That's what makes this partnership unique."
Phase one of the program requires a 'standardised Demand Response solution' – a signal in a standard format from each utility to an energy management company that will allocate a time for each vehicle to recharge (or even discharge back into the grid). The energy management company is to be tasked with evaluating power demand and communicating specific recharging times to vehicles in accordance with those demands.
"If such a service were ever to be implemented for consumers that opt-in to it, they could receive a financial benefit or other incentive for allowing their vehicle charging to be managed," said Nixon. "This would also allow utilities to help reduce stress on the grid and costs to all utility customers."
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Written byCarsales Staff
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