Texas grid, EVS can work together
Re: “Is power grid ready for surge in EVS?” Other Views, March 1:
The electric power grid and electric vehicle technology grew up and played well together at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. In 1900, more electric cars than gasoline-powered vehicles were sold in the U.S., made possible by a battery that could be recharged at home. Incidentally, the rechargeable battery eliminated one of the major disadvantages of gasoline-powered cars: crank starting.
It was common at the time for an electric company to own and promote electric streetcars. To even out the demand for electric power, the electric companies developed amusement parks at the end of streetcar lines to encourage ridership at night and on weekends. As a child in Washington, D.C., I remember fun times on the streetcar going to Glen Echo Park. In San Antonio, there was Electric Park, where VIA Metropolitan Transit’s bus yard is today across from San Pedro Park.
Matching electricity demand and supply is still a challenge, and greater use of renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar, make this even more important now and in the future. One key strategy advocated by many is to store significant amounts of electricity when it is generated so it can be used when it is needed.
CPS Energy has been researching and testing various grid-level storage technologies with more capacity than the recently reported 100-megawatt lithium-ion battery energy storage facility being built in Angleton by a subsidiary of Tesla, Gambit Energy Storage. By comparison, a typical coal-fired power plant produces 600 megawatts.
Years ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a Decoursey Lecture at Trinity University by Nobel Prize winner Richard Smalley, who argued that smaller-scale local storage would be “more practical and desirable” than large-scale storage. He envisioned household units that would provide power for a day or two, not unlike the Tesla Powerwall of today.
Another localized storage approach is called vehicle-to-grid, which makes use of the batteries in electric vehicles. Interestingly, Southwest Research Institute developed the first vehicle-to-grid aggregation system qualified by the Electric Reliability
Council of Texas, or ERCOT, in 2014. The system used electric delivery-truck fleets to make money by assisting in managing the grid frequency.
Gretchen Bakke pointed out in her 2016 book, “The Grid”: “Many people who care about grid reform don’t see electric cars as cars so much as great big batteries on wheels.” The automaker Audi recently announced that its new e-tron car can power a single-family home for about a week with its fully charged battery. I sure could have used one of those a few weeks ago.
The value of cars today, even if they are gasoline-powered, comes from their electrical components. Deloitte estimated that electronics are responsible for 40 percent of a new car’s total cost, up from just 18 percent in 2000. This is expected to only increase as vehicles move toward autonomous operation.
Rather than look at electric vehicles as some sort of pariah when it comes to the future of the electric grid, a more enlightened approach can envision the grid and electric vehicles playing well together again.