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Electric Car Conundrum: V2G a Smart Grid Blessing or Curse? By Andy Bochman Oct 29, 2009 - 11:50:35 AM
Initially arriving in the U.S. in low volume in late 2010, the addition of thousands and later millions of cars with 5-10 KW battery packs drawing power from (and sometimes giving back to) the grid is cast as both a positive and a negative, depending on your point of view.
Duke Energy committed to an electric vehicle future when it committed with the FPL Group to buy 10,000 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in the coming decade, as they upgrade their fleets. The energy storage in these vehicles could eliminate the need for peaking plants and enable the expanded use of renewable energy. Duke Energy’s electric vehicle future may save billions in future power plant investments.
Sounds good, but others worry, here, that local electrical infrastructure can barely handle the additional iPods and iPhones it's had to deal with lately. Adding clusters of electric cars charging at approximately the same time each evening might break the camel's back in many neighborhoods. According to Peter Darbee, the CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric:
A high concentration of plug-in electric vehicles poses a serious challenge to utilities. Plug-in electric cars could draw electricity equivalent to the amount needed to run one home, or up to three homes in certain places. You can see if you have three or five electric cars arrive in a neighborhood, you're going to overload the local circuits, and that will lead to blackouts. So we see it as an opportunity but we also see it as a challenge of significant proportions.
Nissan Leaf photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
We all know how neighbors like to mimic and compete with each other (have you seen the Halloween decorations next door?). One electric car will beget two will beget 10 or 20. Scheduling software will help, but much depends on how fast this goes, and how close to the edge local circuit gear is at the outset. Jack Danahy and Andy Bochman are authors of the Smart Grid Security Blog.
Electric Transportation resources on SGN
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