Can electric vehicles supply power to homes? The short answer is yes! Electric vehicles can be connected to the electric grid, not only to draw electricity from the grid (in order to recharge their batteries), but also to supply power. The longer answer is that not only can electric vehicles power homes, they should!
When you tell this to your friends, the predictable response is: "That doesn't make sense..." They'll say that electric vehicles are most likely to be powered from the grid in the first place. Storing and feeding that power back into the grid, that's likely to result in losing up to 25% of the power. Also, it was most likely generated by those polluting coal-fired power plants. So, why bother to do this?
Well, let's look into this more closely. There's a peak demand for electricity during the day, and there is is also a peak in the evening, when everyone switches on their lights and TV-sets. Feeding energy back into the grid in the evening means that the grid will have to burn less fossil fuel to meet such a peak.
Electric vehicles can recharge their batteries at night, when there's little demand for electricity. Most electricity does indeed come from coal-fired power plants. These plants cannot be arbitrarily switched on and off. In order to be ready for the daily peaks, these plants need to keep going at night, even when there is little or no demand. This idle capacity of coal-fired plants is largely unused.
The idle capacity of the U.S. grid could supply 73% of the energy needs of today's cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, and vans, without adding generation or transmission. Technically, three quarters of all our vehicles could be powered for free; it wouldn't require any extra power to drive them, if they were electric cars that were recharged during off peak periods. We wouldn't need to import any oil any more either.
We need a smart network, with two-way metering of electricity and with differential pricing, both for drawing and supplying electricity to and from the grid. This could make it financially attractive for electric cars to supply electricity to the grid when demand is high. It would make overall electricity supply more robust, better capable to handle outages, congestion, glitches and peaks.
There are further benefits. Gasoline cars are more polluting than power plants. The average thermal efficiency of cars is around 20%, while it is about 33% for coal-fired power plants (for new plants it can go up to 40%). On a mile by mile comparison, an electric car emits only half the CO2 of a conventional car, even when the electricity that powers the electric car came from a coal-fired power plant. So, even if the power originally came from coal-fired power plants, it still makes more sense to drive an electric car. Moreover, as time goes on, more and more surplus power is likely to come from wind farms, which can supply huge amounts of clean energy at night.
Another consideration is that electric vehicles could store more power than what's needed to drive them. Most trips we make are short. he average vehicle usage is only about 35 miles per day or one hour per day. US passenger vehicles are, on average, parked and idle for about 23 hours each day. All that time, the batteries in these cars could be connected to the grid, either drawing or supplying power.
In conclusion, it makes sense to buy an electric vehicle, even if you don't have solar panels (yet) at your home or place of work. Similarly, if your car has a fuel cell and your place of work has access to cheap hydrogen, it makes sense to use that fuel cell to feed power into the electric grid, while your car is parked there.
As a final note, if your car is parked at your place of work during the day, it may be attractive to top up your car battery during the day. If your office has roof-top solar panels, then it's a no-brainer. But even if your office lacks solar panels, and despite higher rates during the day, it may still be attractive. With differential prices publicly available on the net, you could set your car to start charging the battery for as much as you need to drive home and to power your home for the rest of the day. In the evening, you could then power your lights, PC and TV-set from your car battery and any other equipment and appliances that you may use. If what you pay at work is less than what you'd pay at home in the evening, the this will lower your overall electricity cost; it could also safeguard you better against outages and glitches in the electric grid. You may even consider going off-grid altogether and let your electric vehicle power your home!
References:
Potential Impacts of High Penetration of Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles on the U.S. Power Grid http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/avta/pdfs/phev/pratt_phev_workshop.pdf
Electric Drive Vehicles as Distributed Power Generation Systems - by AC Propulsion
http://www.acpropulsion.com/technology/Veh_grid_power.htm
Gridworks
http://www.energetics.com/gridworks/grid.html
Why Not Switch to Electric Cars? - by Doug Korthof
http://baltimorechronicle.com/2005/083005Korthof.shtml
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Comments: 30
The point is that driving electric cars is less polluting than driving gasoline cars. Pollution is not an excuse for people to keep driving gasoline cars.
So driving an EV is a win win- good way to combat climate change, and much cheaper as a fuel source than gasoline.
During hurricane last we finally got gasoline generator for house - were without electric for 2 weeks plus...
As I said in the article, Maggie, a smart network would make overall electricity supply more robust, better capable to handle outages, congestion, glitches and peaks. It will be more efficient and keep going, even if one node in the network fails.
Great article. I'm still looking for an affordable EV Car/Truck to go with our solar home. All the research I've been doing, and the articles I've posted on Gather for my groups pages has broadened my understanding of EV Cars and the new technology going into building them. However, I'm not getting any closer to finding my EV car or EV Car conversion... Any suggestions?
EV Car Club evcars.gather.com
EV CARS and SOLAR HOMES evcars4solarhome.gather.com
I posted another article on my groups pages,
"Electric Vehicles for Sale," what I thought would be a helpful list from the
Electric Car Association web site
http://www.eaaev.org/eaaevsforsale.html
I was hoping to find some good leads for sale listings in that article, but the new production models were the only EV cars that I felt would be trustworthy (?) I don't want to inherit someones nightmare by buying a used EV or EV conversion, and I was discouraged by the ones I found listed. (not many)
I would convert my own cars, but finding an EV mechanic locally to do this has been difficult, and getting batteries is another obstacle.
It appears the cost for building a reliable EV conversion...
- capable of doing long distance travel at highway speeds
- and one that is able to carry a heavy load
- or drive uphill in the mountains
...would cost at least $20,000 for the conversion, and probably more.
The only new EV truck that looks good so far is being produced by Phoenix Motors and is due out of production in late 2008, or 2009, but it will have a heavy price tag (which isn't listed on the web site). So I put my name on their waiting list.
Becky
I believe the car will cost $45,000 and in California you can get some $10,000 in rebates (I don't know whether the $45,000 is correct and whether it's before or after the rebates). Let us know how things go!
Thanks for the info on the Phoenix truck. I thought I had heard somewhere the
base price for the truck would be close to $90,000+ and comparable in price to the Telsa Roadster. I guess I'll have to wait and see...
Becky Novak
Can Altairnano Deliver the Goods?
http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=2080
and the Practical Environmentalist
http://www.practicalenvironmentalist.com/eco-gadgets/test-drive-phoenix-motorcars-electric-sport-utility-vehicle.htm
In my new article, Electric Lightnign!, I also discuss the NanoSafe batteries used in the Phoenix.
In my article, Electric Lightnign!, I also discuss the NanoSafe batteries.
In my article Heavyweight Electric Vehicles, I discuss Zebra batteries.
Lithium-ion batteries are used in the Tesla, as discussed in my article called Tesla Roadster. Most Lithium-ion batteries contain some Lithium and have a metal casing, but there's much publicity around Lithium-ion polymer batteries. Traditional Lithium-ion batteries have metal casing, but the Lithium-ion polymer cells have a flexible, foil-type (polymer laminate) case and can therefore be smaller and thinner. Also, polymer electrolytes do not ignite as easily, so it makes sense to use polymer as separator between anode and cathode, while some Li-polymer batteries even use a polymer cathode (Moltech is developing a battery with a plastic conducting carbon-sulfur cathode). Lithium-ion polymer batteries can use Lithium or carbon-Li intercalation compound as anode. There are many developments in this area, with new materials beinmg tested all the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_polymer_battery
Here's a source that says: "The lithium ion battery does not employ any lithium metal. It is not governed by aircraft transportation rules relating to carrying lithium batteries in passenger airplanes." at:
http://www.byd.com/doce/products/li.asp
I think what they refer to here is the metal casing that Lithium-ion polymer batteries don't have, so they are harder to spot using metal detectors.
Here's a link to an electric bike that has a Lithium-ion polymer battery:
http://schwinnbike.com/products/intbikes_detail.php?id=895
Also note this fascinating report, called Stanford's nanowire battery holds 10 times the charge of existing ones
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0114_050114_solarplastic.html
It is important to show that such ideas and technologies have been around for years; all we need to get them implemented is a change in politics, specifically an end to the support for polluters and a FeeBate policy to facilitate the shifts we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Hermann Scheer, Energy Autonomy, makes the point that the real obstacles to a complete transition to renewable energy are political and psychological. We have been convinced, apart from any factual information, that fossil fuel and nuclear energy are indispensible. Of course, they're not, but they are well established industries.
Sam: "...specifically an end to the support for polluters and a FeeBate policy to facilitate the shifts we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
Perhaps if democrats had used the "feebate" idea in the energy bill, it might have garnered a bit more political strength. Instead, senate republicans were able to frame it as a tax hike on fossils industries, when it was actually a repeal of subsidies/tax incentives. Feebate makes it clearer to the public that renewables would be subsidized by polluters. Of course, what would keep fossil companies from taking advantage of the renewable subsidies themselves? They could fund their own transformation, if they had any imagination.
Interesting concept! Powering my home from a little battery in my car would be a lot like digging a ditch with a teaspoon! However, if they oversize the batteries in cars to fill just that need, (they won't as there would be a cost that no one would pick up) it might become feasible.
Our power in this area is almost totally hydroelectric, not coal fired. Of course, as nuclear proliferates, it will supply the power with minimal greenhouse gasses as well.
What they need to come up with is a car battery that will drive it for at least 350 miles without a charge and then charge overnight! I still don't know where you live but we never go out and drive only 35 miles. It's about 40 miles to make a trip to my doctor's office. If we go to visit, count on 60 miles before the day is out.
But if I want to see my sister or my wife's brother we've got a 400 mile one way trip ahead of us! The hybrids can do it great and when I get that kind of money I'll have one. But I've never purchased a new car in my life because of money and I'm not rare. I wouldn't purchase a used hybrid because of the lack of battery longevity and guarantee. A new Prius sells around here for around $30,000 and that's a lot of bucks to me!
An electric that could go 400 miles on a charge and run the heater or A/C all the time would be a great choice by I think it is a ways down the road, don't you?
One thing we must keep in mind is the power of the currently vested interests. We can't get anything through to change things without it being hijacked and perverted by the vested interests. It will have to be done on an "as can" basis with small steps and then larger ones. That's the only way change comes about in this nation!
Technically, this is not a big issue. You can put a pack of batteries together that will keep you going for many hours. Weight isn't an issue either. However, these batteries are still produced in small quantities only, which makes them expensive and hard to get, but that should not be a problem once they are manufactured in mass quantities.
I made a new version of this article because this issue seems to come back as a FAQ. Phoenix motorcars has made a light truck that will give you 130 miles coverage, which can be extended to up to 200 miles. In both cases, you can recharge the battery pack in 10 minutes time, if there's a gas station with rapid charging facilities on your way. Given that electric vehicles have less moving parts and can get by with less parts than gasoline cars need, electric vehicles should be less expensive once produced in larger quantities.