PLUG-IN ADAPTER: The "EV Project" will help prepare Americans to use electric cars in a way that cuts their electric bills and benefits the climate.
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In the suddenly zooming story of electric cars, it's the cars themselves that have tended to hog the spotlight.
Later this year, Nissan and GM will be the first to unveil their hyped first attempts at cars they hope will appeal to both America's inner motorist and its inner environmentalist: cars that get much or all of their fuel from electricity.
But others, including the White House, are devoting more attention to a larger, almost society-wide, task: preparing Americans to use electric cars in a way that actually cuts their electric bills and benefits the climate.
That's not a slam-dunk. Electric cars have been around for decades, but never in enough numbers that they would affect the grid, or require mass rollouts of charging equipment. The average driver knows nothing of when it's cheapest to charge his car battery, or how far he can drive on a single charge.
Ask these same drivers where the closest gas station is, or what's the quickest route to downtown, and they'll know.
"We've grown up all putting fuel nozzles in gasoline-fueled cars, we understand how to do that, we understand what the issues are," said Don Karner, CEO of eTec, a company focused on infrastructure for alternative vehicles. "Nobody probably ever sat us down and said, this is how you do this. We just kind of gained it by osmosis. Eventually, that'll happen with EVs."
How do you fill 'er up?
Karner's company and several dozen partners want to get the learning process started. Last October, the Energy Department gave it $100 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for a two-year study of exactly how Americans want to use electric cars, and how they can be nudged to use them in the cheapest, most environmentally sound manner.
The "EV Project" will have a total cost of $200 million and focus on 11 cities in five states: Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Tennessee. It will install just over 11,000 car chargers for the program's 4,700 vehicles, all of which are -- at present, Karner emphasized -- Nissan Leafs.
All the participants are volunteers who expressed interest in the Leaf, an all-electric sedan scheduled for release this year. They agreed to give up information about where they drive, where they charge, and how much it costs. The data will get wired to Idaho National Laboratory for use in future DOE reports.
This database may eventually form the backbone for how the government thinks about electric cars and their potential benefits for the climate.
Switching to electric-drive cars doesn't automatically wipe out oil use or carbon emissions. Plug-in hybrid cars can only travel so far on a charge; eventually, the gasoline engine kicks in. Environmental groups also point out that with a coal-dominated grid, plug-in hybrids would cause about as much greenhouse gas emissions as a regular hybrid car -- not the minuscule footprint they seek.
All-electric cars use no gas, but their carbon profiles depend on when they plug in. If people charge during the day, when electric load is highest, power companies may have to build peaking natural gas plants. If they charge at night, studies suggest, new power plants may not be needed: There's already enough generating capacity on today's grid. Alternatively, the cars could charge on wind power, which tends to pick up after dark.
Will 'smart' meters lead to intelligent choices?
The study will approach nearly every aspect of how electric cars will fit into a person's life. Electricity pricing, for example, could affect the charging issue: If smart meters help people notice that power's cheaper at night, they may choose to do it then.
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8 Comments
Add CommentJust yesterday, some of our scientists were discussing this topic on the GE Global Research blog, Edison's Desk. We made an announcement yesterday that GE & Nissan will be working together to explore EV integration into the grid... some of the technical challenges however, are bringing the technology to a level that accounts for all human anxieties and abilities to adapt to the changes that EVs would bring. Interesting discussion. You should read what our project leader for the GE/Nissan partnership says on his blog. http://ht.ly/1DIqW When I read that it definitely gave me some new things to think about.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf they can make the cars (batteries) cheap enough and powering the cars for 300 miles they will have a good chance.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf enough funding comes my way, I will design and license the units that "tap" energy out of the aether (like Tesla probably did for his electric Pierce Arrow Car in 1931).
The units will be leased to give the Investors and Tax Man their due.
P.S. Units like that could also be used to power your home and make it possible for the Shuttles to fly for another ten years for only $150 million Dollars.
The trouble is, all that would start the Next Industrial Revolution that was predicted for this invention by Edgar Caycey. Now, who would want that in the USA ?
Maybe Russia or India.
The liquid metal battery and the liquid salt battery can hold a mega charge and can be charged in about an hour and their range is incredible. This means that you will not have to charge as often or worry about getting stranded. These people who do not want electric cars on the road will do or say anything to discourage their production.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAmericans are not stupid, we have the knowledge and technology to bring electric cars to the market and make them a thousand times better than fossil fuel vehicles and it will not take 50 years for us to do it. If America wanted to, we could flood the market with long range electric vehicles by 2015.
Two years ago, I read about an electric hybred, and I can no longer find it on the Internet or even its name, that can get 7,280 miles per gallon of gas...Donald Trump and Alan Alda are the one who spoke of this vehicle The big three auto manufacturers in America swept that car under the carpet real fast and GM is the one who swept the hydrogen fuel cell on wheels under the carpet. You probably remember that hydrogen battery by the name, "The Skateboard Design". The big three does not want an electric car in America to be better than any of their fossil fuel vehicles...ever.
I think all the production chain has to be evaluated. I mean : what's the interest to have electric car if you must burn diesel in oil electric power plant, move this energy on large distance and re-convert it with a discutable efficiency and/or availability.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAccording to some forecast, in France, 2 nuclear power plants should be built if the electrical car is massively used . Can i imagine, according to the USA population, between 8 and 12 nuclear power plants would have to be built to supply amount of electricity required by electrical cars ?. By the same, the electrical grid will require a refresh to be able to conduct all this amount of energy.
Electrical car in america moves in the good way. Now, i believe the electrical production / network is not ready for this step. Hope will be the case soon
A comment in the story suggests there is no standard for charging, but there is. It's called SAE J1772. Level 1 is a standard 120V household outlet. Level 2 is 240V 30A circuit. Level 3 is 480V 125A up to 1000!. This is for fast charging and these will be placed along freeways and in some city locations for those who don't park their cars at night where charging is available.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs for needing nuclear power, I don't think so. There is enough off-peak power at night to charge over 180 million EVs without adding any new production capacity. However, last year, the U.S. installed 10 gW of wind and about 2 gW of solar to the grid. This alone is enough renewable energy to power 10 million EVs. We'll be installing way more renewable energy to the grid than the EVs will ever use.
You give me a $15,000 car that gets at least 200 miles a charge at 70 MPH and is comfortable for 2, and I'll be the first in line.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThen again, you give me a $15,000 clean diesel that gets 60 MPG at 70 MPH, and is comfortable for 2, I'd be first in that line, too.
I'm not holding my breath for either.
tjj300,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDo you feel guilty driving a car that pollutes other people's air? Do you feel guilty about using oil that we are fighting a war over? If not, why not?
Thank you for posting this. I think people will adapt perfectly fine with electrical car and their fuel nozzles http://topsequipment.com/Nozzles_c4.htm
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