Plug-in cars are raising powerful questions
State studies electrical demands, advantages of new hybrid technology
Published 1:00 am, Wednesday, August 12, 2009
ALBANY — If plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are the future, it stands to reason we'll need more places to plug in.
Sticky questions such as how much more electricity a state full of plug-in cars might need, and where that power might come front, are the subject of a new study being done by the state Energy Research and Development Authority and a not-for-profit research group, the Electric Power Research Institute.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), which combine gasoline engines and electric motors that run on batteries, could dramatically reduce the need for gasoline in transportation and fight climate change by cutting vehicle emissions of carbon dioxide.
On Tuesday, General Motors announced that its plug-in Chevy Volt could get the equivalent of 230 miles per gallon in city driving. The car, due in showrooms next year, could cost as little as 40 cents a day to recharge.
The power demand study will offer insight into "the supply-side of the market, where capacity is necessary to achieve wide public acceptance of these vehicles, " said Francis J. Murray, Jr., NYSERDA president and CEO. PHEVs, he said, can serve as "a high-value customer" for wind power by recharging overnight, when demand and rates are low.
Of particular interest is the potential PHEV impact on downstate grids due to concentrated electric demand and vehicle population.
NYSERDA spokesman Ray Hull said that plug-in vehicles could someday serve as a way to store electricity that could be returned to the grid when needed, a scenario known as "vehicle-to-grid" charging.
"It is something that we need smart grid technology for," Hull said.
He described a scenario in which the power grid might be able to monitor when a few thousand plug-ins are not being used, and redirect that electricity back into general demand.
In related measure, the state authority is testing a Ford PHEV prototype as part of studies that began in 2006. The studies now include five Prius retrofitted PHEVs that are in use at various state agencies. The authority hopes to eventually test up to 600 such vehicles.
Brian Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or firstname.lastname@example.org.