(Page 2 of 2)
Volvo
Vattenfall is working with Volvo in hopes of addressing concerns about how the widespread adoption of plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles will affect the electrical grid. The worst-case scenario is that everyone who owns one of these cars will come home from work at 5 P.M. and plug in, leading to stresses on the grid and possible brownouts. "Will people plug in at every opportunity or not? We don't think that's going to be the case, but we only have computer models," says Sugioka.
The Swedish collaborators will also monitor whether most people charge the cars in garages or will take advantage of fast-charging stations located in public places, which could offer electricity solely from renewable sources of power, such as wind. Sugioka says that Vattenfall has not yet announced which companies are providing the charging stations or how many there will be. Drivers could use them for a fast charge to avoid having to employ the diesel engine--but there is a trade-off. "Fast charging heats up the batteries and shortens their lifetime," says Sugioka. Fast charging may also strain the electrical grid if people use it during peak hours, instead of charging the cars at home at night.
The Swedish project is one of a number of studies under way to monitor how people will use plug-ins. A group of anthropologists led by Tom Turrentine, director of the Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Research Center, at the University of California, Davis, has distributed plug-in vehicles equipped with monitors to several families. "We suspect that people will make some adjustments to save energy and oil, but it's hard to say how much people will change: we're creatures of habit," says Keith Hardy, acting director of the FreedomCAR and Fuel partnership at the U.S. Department of Energy.
A California company's lithium metal-air batteries are lightweight and energy dense.
The electric propulsion system for GM's new plug-in hybrid gives a silent yet powerful ride.
In November, Fisker Automotive will begin sales of a car with 50 miles of battery-powered range.
I agree-- the car itself should have a configurable timer, so non-stupid charging can be done independent of any so-called smart charger/grid. For example, the car's inside LCD display could be used to view and edit charging options. This would be analogous somewhat to lawn watering systems, perhaps with a few simple selections, e.g. Program A/B/C. Either an inside button (e.g. from the display) or a button/display or slide/rotory switch outside next to the plug could select and activate charging.
Besides time-of-day charging (to delay start of charge or avoid certain peak hours) it is useful to have the driver indicate how long the car will be plugged in.
For example, you open the plug cover and connect the car to power, then slide an adjacent selector switch (or slider pot) that says, "ASAP,2hr,4hr,6hr,...,Overnight,Prog-A,Prog-B". Suppose you park the car at 3pm, plug it in, then you adjust the slider to 6hrs, indicating the car will be parked for >6 hours. The charging system could know to wait until past the (pre-programmed) peak use time and charge during 6-9pm.
Using cell phone communications is still a good idea. If the car has a cell-phone/GPS anyway, it could send an SMS-like message to the power company to indicate a charging request. The power company could return the SMS with more precise load predictions and costs. Perhaps the power company could offer a rebate on a home electric bill for controlled charging. The cell-phone car-charging network could also be used for load control/stabilization in lieu of running standby power or building flywheel plants. If there are a significant number of cars charging, then the charging network could add/subtract short term load while power stations spin up/down (or wind comes and goes).
Of course, there needs to be a change in the tariffs so the phone companies don't charge $1/kB like they sometimes do now for SMS!
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
Our list of the 50 most innovative companies, including the following:
On Twitter
Become a Fan on Facebook
Subscribe to the Feed
mahonj
46 Comments
How smart do you need to be ?
Smart charging can be done based on time of day and time of week - certainly in cool countries.
As long as you avoid charging between 5 pm and 9pm, you will be OK.
If you charge between 11 pm and 6 am, it is very good.
So if you go home and plug it in, at 5pm, nothing happens till 11pm + some dither amount (to prevent all cars starting to charge at 11pm).
You might have a "Force" button to force it to charge, say if you are in a parking lot, or at work.
It could then charge enough to repeat the previous journey.
Public Charging stations should be coin operated - 1 or 2 euros will buy a lot of power, + the price could be based on time of day (easy) or grid condition (requires some signalling).
Reply