Utilities vow to prep infrastructure for plug-in cars

DETROIT--There's a great deal of interest from consumers in plug-in vehicles but electricity utilities say they need to prepare even before electric cars start to plug in.

Industry association the Edison Electric Institute on Wednesday issued a pledge that its members will take steps to smooth the transition to electrically fueled vehicles. The chairman of the institute and CEO of utility DTE Energy, Anthony Earley, voiced the industry's support for plug-in vehicles here at the Business of Plugging In Conference.

"The industry's challenge will be to effectively manage this transition," Earley said. "We recognize that now is the time. After years of debate, the electric vehicle is ready for prime time."

In a DOE-sponsored program, a number of utilities are testing the mileage improvements and impact on the grid of plug-in electric vehicles.

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)

The statement underscores the growing interconnectedness between the auto and utility industries that's occurring as a wave of plug-in electric cars approach car dealerships.

Plug-in hybrid or pure-electric cars promise to be cheaper to fuel up--the equivalent of $1 per gallon, Earley said. But there are a number of barriers to widespread adoption, including higher upfront costs and the potential impact on the electricity grid.

Utility executives say that adding just a few plug-in electric vehicles to an area could overload the local distribution circuit, particularly if drivers install faster 220-volt chargers at home. There have also been concerns that fueling millions of vehicles from the grid will require construction of more power plants to meet the added demand.

Utilities and auto executives say there is sufficient demand to charge vehicles in the near term with existing power plants if cars are charged at off-peak times, typically overnight. But there needs to be some products and policy changes to ensure that off-peak charging takes place en masse.

In its pledge, the Edison Electric Institute said that they will seek to install more charging stations in public places. Also, it will encourage development of policies that give consumers cheaper electricity rates at off-peak times.

Utilities are now working in a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored program to test the impact of plug-in electric vehicles. The Edison Electric Institute also said that utilities will establish customer support and education.

[Joe Real]

Plug-In cars are a God-send to electric utility providers. They will be assured of customers buying more electricity during off-peak hours. Perhaps increasing the prices of electricity during off-peak hours because of these new demands. With more profits looming, it is just right that the utilities prepare the infrastructure for their new billable customers.

The event that is unfolding is the shifting of $$$ from the gas pumps into the electric meters. Then there could be tug-of-war pricing between the two sources of vehicle energy. And this is where the serial hybrids like GM-Volt and Aptera 2h would give you real choice compared to either just the ICE or the EV alone. When gasoline prices swings up, you just use more electric charging whenever you can, and if the gasoline prices goes down, you fill up with gas. For sure there will be wild swing of prices of gasoline and to a certain extent, electricity.

One way out of all of these fuel or electric gouging is to install as much solar PV whenever you can.

[ittesi259]

In California electricty rates for the majority of consumers must be approved by the CPUC so if gouging takes place blame them. You must be Joe Real Rich because I'm not gonna be installing a 15-20k solar PV system in order to buy a car that will already be overpriced initially. Charging in the offpeak hours is sufficient. The real problem is American society of "I want it, and I want it now and to hell with how it affects anyone but me"

[Joe Real]

I'm waiting for the solar PV to come down at retail. I know basic carpentry and electrical job and even people with less education than me can mount the solar PV over roof tiles. Then I'll hire a licensed electrician to install the circuit for the solar PV and connect the inverter, for less than $360 job. The total cost of installation including my free labor should be less than $1000. All I am waiting now is to buy a large system that will be around $3/watt. You will break-even at less than $4/watt with the finance charges paid for. If I can install the system at less than $3/watt, I won't bother with rebates to save our government some money. What is happening right now is that the net effect is that the installers are pocketing the rebate money by charging you unreasonably high costs at about $8-$11/watt. Given that many panels have been reported here in CNET to be sub $1/watt, and the fact that the prices at retail remains at $8-$11/watt, somebody is raking in tremendous amount of profit.

So if you do the installation yourself with proper permits from the city, hire a licensed electrician to do the main electrical connection and inspection of your installation, you should be able to make solar PV economically feasible. It is not rocket science to install these improved panels. All you have to do is to wait out for panels to come down in price to less than $3/watt uninstalled. Some suppliers hawking their wares at eBay are already at about $3.75/watt with free shipping, but too bad, the panels comes from China and are not as efficient and require large real estate on the roof. Will have to wait some more.

[Randys2cents]

EV cars should be able to charge on the road wirelessly and have the cost added to the
electric bill they already receive each month for the home. Given the choice, drivers would
rather not have to go threw the hassle of plugging-in.

[ittesi259]

Right....like that technology is even remotely available. You must believe the hype that Dell's "wireless" charging system for their notebook is actually wireless

[TogetherinParis]

Tesla demonstrated this technology more than 100 years ago, but robust chargers must be imbedded in the roadway because costs increase with the square of the distance. We are about 14 years away for this given the rarity of electric vehicles on our roads today.

[carlhage]

PG&E (Tesla-country) already has a special <a href="http://www.pge.com/myhome/environment/pge/electricvehicles/fuelrates/index.shtml">tariff for electric vehicles</a> with about 50% discount 12-7am-- that's a good incentive to charge overnight (the price is .05/kWh night but .28 afternoon summer). Evening out the day/night load allows the utilities to use more efficient generators that need to run at a constant rate.

The fear of overload from EVs seems hyperbole to me. At an average of 15K mi/yr, 3mi/kWh, thats 14 kWh/day, or 2kW load spread over the 12-7am night rate window. First, there aren't going to be that many EVs added over the next several years, even in Berkeley. And each Tesla owner isn't going to charge the full 50kWh each night. Running EV chargers at the same time within a neighborhood is not unlike running an air conditioner, oven, large TV, and lights at 5pm.

In California, total residential average summer use is about 5-7GW at night, and peaks at ~20GW at 5pm (of 11M households)-- about 8GW of the 20 is air conditioning. If every other house had an EV and charged the average 2kW/night, the night load would be less than the summer load with air conditioners running. It will be a while before there are that many EVs, so any upgrades in power distribution can be made over time. With a 5X difference in price between night rate and summer-peak, that's a good incentive for owners to optimize usage times. Eventually, with good forecasting and smart grids, EV charging could even out the loads over a 24hr and/or match load to wind solar power availability.

It still might be worthwhile to pass a law banning EV chargers without a timer. Some manufacturers might be that stupid-- waiting for future smart-grid instead of just building in a timer by default.

[tech_crazy]

Agree for the most part. But what if the car owner needs to charge an empty battery and/or is willing to pay the peak rate. That should no way be banned.

[Mergatroid Mania]

"Utilities and auto executives say there is sufficient demand to charge vehicles in the near term with existing power plants"

Uh, shouldn't that be "there is sufficient CAPACITY", not demand?

And can you say "oh great, here comes the electric bill increases as the electric companies try and get consumers to pay for their system upgrades instead of taking the money out of their profits, and then conveniently forget to lower the prices back to where they were after the infrastructure as been upgraded"?

Well, at least they're planning ahead...we'll see who will be paying for the planning ahead.

[libertyforall1776]

Electric companies like ComEd are dinosaurs since they STILL haven't upgraded to wireless meters, they STILL have to send meter readers out. Also, we cannot pull the data from our computer in real-time from their realtime pricing meters because there is no data transmission feature. It is time to get government out of the way, so we can get some real electric utility competition!!!

[HeavyJim]

Its going to be interesting to see how our goobermint and its politicians figure out how to tax these electrics once they become of any significant number. They are going to have to get that tax money somehow for roads and other items.

[USDecliningDollar]

Taxes coming to an odometer near you. I would guess that automobiles will, in the next 10 years, be taxed on a per mile driven basis rather than a "gasoline tax" ... or maybe even both (roll eyes) as vehicles become "hybridized" or become all electric. Unfortunately, all that glitters, isn't gold. My other prediction - no matter what technology is used, you will end up paying roughly the same amount or more than what you are paying now to fuel/charge your vehicle. As demand for electricity goes up ... so will your electric bill.