By: Margie Slovan
Daily Journal Of Commerce
October 2, 2008
IMAGINE THAT YOUR CAR could generate energy, instead of spending it to the tune of $4 a gallon.
Utilities like Portland General Electric are already preparing for that day.
“We want to be ready” when electric cars are mass marketed, said PGE spokesperson Steve Corson.
In the last few months PGE has installed five charging stations - places where electric cars can recharge their batteries - around Portland and Salem, including one in front of its building.
All the driver needs to do is plug the car into an electric socket.
The charging stations work for electric cars and also for plug-in hybrids, which have a gas tank as well as a battery. Plug-in hybrids can run for about 35 miles on the battery before they switch to gas.
Eventually, customers at charging stations would have the choice to sell their battery power back to the utility during peak usage hours.
“The potential for a two-way source of power is attractive,” Corson said.
PGE plans to install seven more charging stations this year.
Electricity is plentiful in the U.S. Even if all of America's cars were plug-in hybrids, there would be enough electricity to power three-quarters of them, according to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Energy.
A flurry of new interest in plug-in hybrids has been spurred by recent innovations in battery technology. The city of Seattle is participating in a year-long federal demonstration project to test how plug-in hybrids perform in cities.
In 2010, Chevrolet is planning to roll out a plug-in hybrid electric car called the Volt. Toyota also has one in the works, and wants to test it in Portland, according to PGE.
Nissan plans to have an all-electric car on the market that same year.
On Monday Warren Buffett announced he was buying a piece of a Chinese battery manufacturing company that is planning to sell electric cars in the U.S.
The city of Vancouver, B.C., has just decided that all new single-family homes must have built-in sockets to plug in electric cars.
And Israel is planning to have thousands of new electric cars on its roads by 2011.
But if electric cars ever do make it to the mass market, utilities have to become smarter about managing the flow of power.
That's because while electricity is plentiful, it's only plentiful at night. If everybody charged their car at the same time - when they came home from work, for instance - the power grid could be overwhelmed.
“Rush hour on the roads would translate pretty quickly to rush hour on the grid. We don't want the load to hit the grid when the plug hits the wall,” said Steve Kaplan, CEO of V2Green, which makes software that allows cars to communicate with the power grid. Last week his company was purchased by Arlington, Va.-based GridPoint.
Kaplan spoke at a conference last month sponsored by the Cascadia Center.
Utilities in Texas and California are planning to test new “smart meters” that will recognize when people were charging their cars and price the power accordingly. If the car were charging during peak hours, the price for the electricity would be higher.
But since plug-in hybrids can only run for about 35 miles on a battery, charging stations outside the home - like those being installed by PGE in Oregon - will also be necessary.
It takes eight to 12 hours to recharge an electric car if the battery is empty.
The city of San Jose, Calif., is also testing this concept. Drivers there will soon be able to pull up to one of five curbside recharging stations to power up and pay for the electricity on the spot. Software invented by Kaplan's company will allow the stations to “talk” to the cars.
The city of Vancouver, B.C., is also considering putting in charging stations.
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More charging stations for local park-and-rides
King County Metro plans to add 20 charging stations for plug-in vehicles at park-and-ride lots it is building around the county, including those in Redmond and Burien. Metro also plans to give parking priority to plug-in vehicle owners at its parking lots in Eastgate and Issaquah Highlands, which already have charging stations. Drivers will have to register with Metro to participate. For more information, call (206) 625-4500 or visit www.rideshareonline.com/electric.
Margie Slovan can be reached by email or by phone at (206) 622-8272.
