Engineer Michael Kintner-Meyer (front) and his team at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory: Nathan Tenney, scientist; Frank Tuffner, engineer; Vilayanur Viswanathan, engineer; Richard Pratt, engineer.

Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) has released a prototype plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) Smart-Charger Controller which coordinates with smart meters to charge during off-peak hours and avoid critical peak periods.  The controller, pictured above, appears to be fully compatible with plug standards, acting as the “brain” of the charging operation, not the physical connector.

The controller would communicate with the meter, which in turn communications with the utility, determining the price of electricity and making an autonomous decision about whether to charge now or delay charging for a later time.  This allows the utility to maintain at least some leverage on PHEV charging times, which are expected to add enormous strain to the grid in coming years.

The PNNL Smart Charger Controller is a great concept; something similar should be included in every PHEV.  Engineers may be tempted at this point to take the cheap road and jerry-rig an egg timer to their PHEV so that it charges during off-peak hours.  I would suggest, however, that the logic embedded in the PHEV controller is actually quite simple and could probably fit into a very small chip in a production model.

Indeed, product engineer Michael Kintner-Meyer says “Our smart charger controller can be embedded at various locations, including on the vehicle, in the cord-set to the vehicle, and in the stationary unit outside the vehicle.”

The key question to me is not whether it can perform basic functions, but whether it is secure, robust, and expandable.  If we do (or don’t) want PHEVs to perform energy arbitrage and V2G functions, we should give PHEVs the intelligence to do it now. 

In an age where iPods, cell phones, and mobile computers are ubiquitous, we owe it to our cars to at least put a calculator’s worth of intelligence in them.  Almost every cell phone now comes with text messaging, Internet access, a calculator, a calendar, and a host of other features. (Try getting a phone without most of these!)

I’ve noticed people using their phones now to calculate tips at restaurants.  Vehicles should have enough intelligence to ensure that you aren’t “over-tipping” the utility.

   Autoblog Green article on the PNNL Smart Charger Controller