California wants to use electric cars to back up the power grid A collaboration between GM and PG&E will test-drive powering homes with EV batteries during blackouts. The initial purchase of an electric vehicle can also serve as a barrier to entry for some California residents because the vehicles tend to be priced higher than their gas- or diesel-fueled counterparts. Experts say Californias power grid can comfortably support up to 5 million electric cars on the road. The heatwave continues. Many Californians right now are no doubt feeling the whipsaws of conflicting government policies. Switching to EVs will help the climate only if electricity generation is decarbonized otherwise, one has substituted increased coal/gas emissions from electricity generation for gasoline emissions from cars. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images), Cyclists Now Outnumber Motorists In City Of London, COtooCLEAN Process That Recycles Flexible Plastic Back To The Shelf Instead Of The Landfill Wins $3 Million Prize, Electric Bike Battery Collection And Recycling Program Started By U.K.s Bicycle Association, Cars Not Banned In 15-Minute Cities Nor Will Bugs Be Lunch, A Tedious And Boring Analysis Of Two Items In ExxonMobils 2022 10-K, Plastic Consumption Could Nearly Double By 2050, Study Warns. "We're in the early days of the end-of-life EV batteries being available," Hall said. Ive seen a bit of caution approaching these things because batteries on wheels are not something utilities have really worked on before.. Hundreds of offshore wind developers and experts gathered in Rhode Island to talk about the future of clean energy how to grow the offshore wind industry and address shared challenges. System Operator announced a statewide electricity Flex Alert urging conservation to avoid blackouts in Monterey Park, California on August 31, 2022. The sheer heft of the Golden States auto market means that carmakers will need to ramp up their gas-to-electric transition plans, especially if more states and countries follow Californias lead and implement their own combustion engine bans, which I believe is all but guaranteed. "They do have some powertrain warranty dynamics where they're replacing batteries that didn't meet certain promise specs, and there have been some pack replacement programs for some of the early vehicles like the Leaf," Hall said. In response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, nuclear energy seems to be staging a comeback world over. Reader support helps us keep our explainers free for all. Last week, a company called B2U Storage Solutions announced that it had started operations at a 25 Megawatt-hour battery facility in California. With 15 times more electric cars expected on Californias roads by 2035, the amount of power they consume will grow exponentially. counties.). Roadshow. To work in a car, the batteries need to be able to meet certain standards in terms of capacity and rate of discharge, but that performance declines with use. What youre saying to me is were working on it, and we have no idea when we will make the system better and theres nothing that youre telling me that we could do as a state to make improvements, he said. So we talked with B2U's CEO, Freeman Hall, to find out why the company decided it was the right time to put the concept into action. Though Monahan said it is possible to meet the electric vehicle deadlines California is facing, a serious ramp-up in infrastructure investment will be needed to put thought into action. The goal is 250,000 by 2025. Smashed minivan adds to San Jose neighborhoods frustration, concerns about safety: Roadshow, Is there a different reason for debris problem on 101 that cant be swept away? Thats about 69 gigawatts from large-scale solar farms, up from 12.5 gigawatts, plus triple the amount of rooftop solar and double the amount of onshore wind power. We have confidence now that electricity will meet future demand and were able to plan for it, said Quentin Gee, a California Energy Commission supervisor who forecasts transportation energy demand. Current offshore wind turbines off the East Coast are fixed to the ocean floor in shallow waters. One of the main challenges going forward, as Ive discussed before, will be to get the states charging infrastructure ready to support a fully electric fleet of cars and trucks. Bidirectional power on a large scale hasnt really been performed yet, said Kyri Baker, an assistant professor of engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. This means that political optics are important especially for signature liberal issue such as EVs. Among the biggest is California-based ChargePoint, with an approximately $6 billion market cap. But experts say GMs size and electric vehicle ambitions mean its pilot with PG&E has the potential to be a big deal, and could be the first real test case of the vehicle-to-grid idea. And, by working with battery OEMs, B2U is getting access to a number of batteries that never spent much time in cars. California is deploying new chargers with funds from a $8.9 billion investment for electric vehicle incentives from this years budget. He referenced changes in cell phone technology between 2002 and 2012 as an examplea comparison he noted is not direct but still illustrates how drastically markets can change in a decade. California state officials "claim that the 12.5 million electric vehicles expected on California's roads in 2035 will not strain the grid," writes the nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization Cal Matters. The state must ensure that the transition to clean electricity protects the environment, is affordable and equitable, and avoids delays and siting issues, Breckel said. Poorly-executed climate plans could backfire and derail climate progress. Please enter a valid email and try again. By 2030, about 1.2 million chargers will be needed for 8 million vehicles, according to a state report. California has about 838,000 electric cars and plug-in hybrids. The idea behind the pilot is deceptively simple: An EV owner plugs their car into a charger at home, and instead of electricity simply flowing into the cars battery, electricity can also flow out of it to provide power to buildings a concept called vehicle-to-grid, which essentially makes the car an extension of the power grid itself. This is a BETA experience. H. Saad. Hall said his company started with solar project installs in California and began to see what's called the "duck curve," where solar generation starts to occur in excess in the mid-afternoon. Oops. This is quite literally a life-or-death issue: PG&E was found responsible for sparking last years Dixie Fire, the second-largest fire in state history, and charged with manslaughter after its equipment started fires in 2018 and 2020. Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology allows for energy to be sent from the vehicle back into the grid or building as needed. Electrifying all new cars in California could be an immense burden on the states struggling power grid -- or a whole new line of defense against blackouts. Develop a giant new industry: State officials predict that offshore wind farms will provide enough power for about 1.5 million homes by 2030 and 25 million homes by 2045. While the idea may go back a while, implementing it required two things: a steady supply of end-of-life car batteries and a regular excess of cheap power to charge the batteries with. A: Im sure that would be of great interest. worst EV-to-charger port ratios in the nation. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg. About 150,000 electric vehicles were sold in California in 2018 8 percent of all state car sales. According to Reuters, America's increasing reliance on electric vehicles will require significant energy investments across the country, with the NREL estimating the U.S.' energy generation will need to double by 2050 in order to keep up with demand. A standard level 2 charger could cost between $7,000 to $11,000, while direct fast charging costs about $100,000 to $120,000 each, according to the California Energy Commission. But then, arent we just transferring emissions from vehicles to coal- and gas-burning power plants? Siva Gunda, a member of the California Energy Commission, acknowledged that the state needs to do better to make sure we are on course to retire the fossil-fuel generation and not burdening communities.. But no such projects are in the works yet. We write on environmental issues, climate politics and NGOs. Perhaps climate groups should start lobbying for the Senate Bill, the Streamlining Interstate Transmission of Electricity Act that seeks to streamline siting procedures for interstate transmission lines. Many experts believe that electric vehicles won't be a drag on America's electric grid. Instead, they'll be a benefit. By leveraging an EVs battery capacity to provide power back to the grid when demand is high, EVs can improve our grid's resilience. "Can the grid survive without EVs?" says Allen. As with many of the problems related to energy and electric vehicles, its a matter of time, education, awareness and incentives, Gadh said. Download Free PDF Sample: http://bit.ly/3IHAOK7. Cars Electric Cars Could Save Californias Power Grid. Conditions apply. Scott Adams faces 'consequence culture' as U.S. newspapers drop Dilbert, Tom Cruise's 'ditching' of Suri showcased by Judd Apatow's 'co-parenting' joke, ex-Scientology exec says. Installing the massive turbines with blades bigger than a football field and constructing transmission lines and an onshore production plant would take another two to three years, Stern said. The claim that California told electric vehicle owners to not charge their cars because of a power shortage is FALSE. Driving the news: B2U Storage Solutions' Sierra facility has reached 25MWh of solar storage capacity using second-life EV batteries from Honda and Nissan, the company announced Tuesday. We dont want people to be confused or lose confidence that the utility is going to be able to meet their needs.. Please consider making a one-time contribution to Vox today. These time-of-use rates have been a highly successful strategy, Doherty said. Sacramento, CA 95814, Contact Us | DirectionsLanguage Services But in setting those projections, the state agencies responsible for providing electricity the California Energy Commission, the California Independent System Operator and the California Public Utilities Commission and utility companies are relying on multiple assumptions that are highly uncertain. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel by clicking here! Then, in a dizzying about-face, residents were asked not to charge their EVs to conserve energy as Californias electrical grid was pushed to the limit due to a punishing heatwave. WebConsumers from Texas to Michigan to California know the U.S. electrical grid is in terrible shape, with aging infrastructure, inadequate capacity for the coming influx of electric cars needing charging and an increasingly dysfunctional response to The goal will require a big shift for California drivers, more than 85% of whom were still driving gas- and diesel-powered vehicles in 2019, according to the California New Car Dealers Association's California Auto Outlook. Something went wrong. Californians may need to take measures to conserve energy, including by avoiding charging electric vehicles, to prevent strain to the state's power grid over the The growth of electric vehicles had also started to ensure there was a steady supply of high-quality batteries to store the power in. For instance, in the summer when energy is the most expensive, PG&E customers pay about 55 cents per kilowatt-hour during peak hours, more than double the 24 cents during off-peak times, according to PG&E spokesperson Paul Doherty. There are more than half a million E.V.s in California, the most of any state. About the California Energy CommissionThe California Energy Commission is leading the state to a 100 percent clean energy future. Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com or 408-920-5335. Currently, about 80,000 public chargers operate statewide, with another estimated 17,000 on the way, according to state data. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki is stepping down. Now Meta and Twitter want your money, too. Some car owners may not want to use the technology because they worry that it could affect their car batterys life. With 15 times more electric cars expected on Californias roads by 2035, the amount of power they consume will grow exponentially. Its also an indication of how serious GM, which announced it would end production of diesel and gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, is about electric vehicles. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. That would eight about eight million electric cars to a system that is already set for blackouts and brownouts. "You want to make sure that you're balancing the amount of energy that comes onto the grid versus the energy that's coming off the grid," Moniot said. This would be of great interest to folks charging their cars for the next days trip. Could this be done? Not anymore. Convince drivers to charge their cars during off-peak hours: With new discounted rates, utilities are urging residents to avoid charging their cars between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. With this technology, the hope is that grids will not only be able to support millions more EVs but will actually be strengthened by them. Fermata Energy says that its proprietary V2G system can turn EVs into mobile energy storage assets, making it possible for owners to combat climate change, increase energy resilience and reduce energy costs.. Electric vehicles can connect with various grids thanks to a technology called "vehicle-to-grid." Nationally there are about 2.64 million. Not a month ago, they learned that the state will ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035, mandating that all new passenger cars and trucks sold in the state must be electric vehicles (EVs). However, there are also significant technological challenges that must be overcome before the full potential of this technology can be realized. For context, Diablo meets 9.3% of the states electricity needs. Vehicle-grid integration (VGI) refers to technologies, policies, and strategies for electric vehicle (EV) charging which alter the time, power level, or location of the charging (or discharging) in a manner that benefits the grid while still meeting drivers mobility needs. "California plans on using rates to help drive the charging behaviors that are going to help the state electrify transportation while cutting carbon from the grid and saving ratepayers and drivers money," she told Newsweek. California has about 838,000 electric cars and plug-in hybrids. WIRED Media Group One solution is to make sure that new EVs are equipped with bidirectional chargers. "This plan's yearly targets35 percent ZEV sales by 2026, 68 percent by 2030, and 100 percent by 2035provide our roadmap to reducing dangerous carbon emissions and moving away from fossil fuels. Companies could address this opposition by, say, burying transmission lines, which raises transmission costs. Ultimately, electrifying cars, heaters, stoves and other equipment currently running on fossil fuels could save an average family $1,050 to $2,585 a year, according to Rewiring America. WebConsumers from Texas to Michigan to California know the U.S. electrical grid is in terrible shape, with aging infrastructure, inadequate capacity for the coming influx of electric cars needing charging and an increasingly dysfunctional response to Is the state on track to achieve its clean energy goals? Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window). 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