In today's newspaper is an article written by Kevin G. Hall of McClatchy Newspapers, titled "
Plug-in cars add urgency to building a smart grid". The article starts with a comment that on Friday, NRG Energy opened the first fast-charging electric station at a drugstore in Dallas, which was quickly descended upon by Volts and Leafs needing a recharge. The "pumps" (which look like gas pumps) are rechargers with 480-volt DC that can add 30 miles of range to an electric car in as few as 10 minutes. (I don't even want to think what it would do to most electric motorcycles. My batteries would probably start popping like popcorn in a microwave oven.)
However, the thrust of the article is that "carmakers and manufacturers of EV chargers have agreed on a common charging system plug that will work across the wide range of equipment providers". It also compares the needed charging system infrastructure with the construction of the interstate highway system, gasoline stations and related industries that were made possible by the popularity of IC vehicles. Except building charging stations will be a whole lot easier and cheaper than what it took to establish and operate stations to dispense gasoline.
Ed Kjaer, the director of electric transportation for Southern California Edison, was quoted as saying "The moment you put a plug on a car, you've got these two titan industries coming together and supporting a customer". The alliance between utilities and carmakers will lead to numerous changes, he predicts, including a faster build of the "smart grid", which involves the use of digital technology by utilities to allow consumers real-time measures of their energy use, as well as better management by utilities of their power production and distribution infrastructure.
Dennis Beal, VP of global vehicles for FedEX, recently said that 30% of his company's fleet could be electric if batteries with a 100-mile range became commonplace.
Genevieve Cullen, VP of the Electric Drive Transportation Association, an advocacy group for electric cars says about adding plug-in cars to the transportation mix that "a small increase in efficiency translates into huge oil savings".
The first wave of EV charging stations is likely to involve the owners of buildings and national retail chains that install car-charging operations for some small economic or marketing gain. Once a critical mass is reached in production and sales of EV, advocates say, the market could build out quickly. Constructing a charging system infrastructure is orders of magnitude cheaper and easier than installing a hydrogen or ethanol infrastructure, says Mahi Reddy, CEO of SemaConnect, a company in Annapolis, MD, that makes EV chargers.
EVs are not expected to overburden the utilities that are developing the smart grid. Ed Kjaer says that "There is so much excess capacity that there are no near- or mid-term challenges. Where we think there is going to be some issue, and it will vary across the country, is really the last 50 feet", referring to the power services to homes from the neighborhood transformers. Sherif Marakby, director of electric-vehicle programs for Ford Motor, shares that view.
My personal feeling is that if Oil companies have any smarts, they will start installing charging stations in their gasoline stations and sell junk food and cheap beer to EV owners while their cars recharge. Come to think of it, it would also make sense for the purveyors of fine fast foods to install charging stations. After all they have the parking spaces, greasy food and kid playgrounds to keep everyone occupied while the car is charging. And maybe soccer moms would appreciate charging stations at the local playground, too. The opportunities are limitless.
