Smart grid energy storage: GM and ABB at work on smarter way to link EVs and the grid

By Jesse Berst

A pilot project has just launched in Denmark to hook electric vehicles (EVs) directly to the grid. At peak times, the grid would suck energy from the batteries.

That's a dumb idea from where I sit. The battery is the most expensive part of an EV and the one most likely to wear out. Would you want to risk shortening your EV battery's useful life by months or years by letting your local utility cycle it up and down? I wouldn't.

Much smarter to simply vary how fast you charge the EVs. When the grid has excess power (from late-night wind, let's say), it charges EV batteries as fast as possible. When it needs power, it throttles back the charging.

To get even more value, you could pursue the idea now being researched by GM and ABB's smart grid team.  They are testing whether used EV batteries can be used for grid storage after they are pulled from the vehicles. If so, it could be a great boon for utilities. And for EV owners, who would have a way to get value from batteries that are no longer good enough for driving, but plenty good for other things.

And speaking of batteries

Researchers at Sumitomo Electric have found a new approach that could improve battery capacity as much as three times. The piece by Smart Planet is a good reminder that we shouldn't assume that batteries will remain the costly blockers they are today.

Even so, the report misses two other crucial aspects of the energy storage equation. The first is "manufacturability" -- the ability to take a technology that is successful at laboratory scale and manufacture it at mass scale. The second is "economic viability" -- the ability of today's battery companies to stay afloat until the good times arrive. As Lux Research warned recently, strong partnerships will be essential because all of today's battery companies can't possibly survive. 

Jesse Berst is the founder and chief analyst of Smart Grid News.com. He consults to smart grid companies seeking market entry advice and M&A advisory. A frequent keynoter at industry events in the US and abroad, he also serves on the Advisory Council of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Energy & Environment directorate.

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