I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the future of our electric grid and how it will change with the advent of a truly smart grid as well as the widespread adoption of electric cars. One of the biggest constraints of electricity generation and delivery is that we can not (to date) effectively store electricity. We either use it or lose it.
We’re currently working on a smart grid that will allow energy to flow from the utility company to the consumer, and also the other way. This will allow those with wind mills or solar panels to sell energy back to the grid.
Electric cars rely on huge batteries to charge at night and then power the car during the daily commute. One of the really exciting things about widespread adoption (should it occur) is that we will have the largest collection of batteries in the history of man. If you charge your car fully over night (when electricity is cheaper), then drive a few miles to work you’re not going to deplete the whole battery. There will be a lot of stored charge.
Imagine being able to plug-in at work and sell that electricity back to the utility at peak rates (after having paid off-peak rates to charge it over-night). For this to work, however, you will need a personal utility account (like a debit card). Otherwise, your employer would get the credit (since it’s probably his plug).
There are, of course, other uses: What if you get to a friend’s house for dinner and your car is running low? Should your friend have to pay for you to charge your car? Of course not!
We will need to separate the idea of a utility meter from a house/office. Currently utilities track premises. In general there is one premise per home. I think in the future it might look more like one premise per person.
There are also other options utility companies are looking at. According to a recent Wall St Journal article, some utilities are offering an “all you can eat” rate plan specifically for charging electric cars (Detroit-Edison), others are offering lower rates and free charging stations. This does not solve the problem of charging away from home, but it can provide incentive to move to an electric car. The same article suggests that someone driving a Nissan Leaf 100 miles a day (which admittedly seems like a lot) can save more $350 a month compared to driving a traditional internal combustion car getting 25 MPG.
I think the real interesting question is “how will governments respond to electric cars?” I imagine we’ll see some free/heavily discounted public charging stations at least initially. Just as cities/states provide roads for our cars, I think it’s reasonable that they will provide power to speed the adoption of electric vehicles (and by “free”, of course I mean tax payer funded…)
I’ll be interested to see what other policy changes emerge as a result of electric cars.
Good Talk,
Tom
[Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703882404575519641915241922.html]
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