Electric Vehicles Enter Local Resource Debate
The impact of electric and hybrid electric vehicles on two different resource areas are being studied. The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) has announced that it intends to conduct a study to determine the effect of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on the state’s power grid. In addition, the MPSC will study the possibility that EVs and HEVs could provide additional power during peak usage times. The MPSC will use actual EVs and HEVs, when available, and hopes to measure their impact on utility companies and regional electric cooperatives. The group will submit annual reports on the status of the state’s power grid as it relates to electric vehicle use, starting in 2009.
Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, TN, have modeled the impact of EVs and PHEVs on the electrical grid, using demand times of 5:00 PM and 10:00 PM for EV-charging, and the assumption that 25 percent of vehicles on the road by 2020 will be electric or electric hybrids. Under such a scenario, the model predicted that the grid would be strained by demands for electricity earlier in the evening, requiring the construction of 160 new electrical plants. Power companies would be better able to handle the EV demand if owners charged their vehicles overnight. Under these constraints, only eight additional power plants would be required. The model also predicted capacity problems directly related to the use of electric vehicles by 2030, if additional improvements are not made to power plants before that time.
The Ford Motor Company and Southern California Edison are currently conducting tests on a small fleet of Ford’s prototype PHEVs there. That effort is also looking at battery ownership issues and residual value for EV/PHEV batteries. Since car batteries currently have no residual value, no model exists for assigning value to an EV/PHEV battery.
The question of resource consumption isn’t limited to the impact of electric and hybrid electric vehicles on the power plants. A study scheduled to appear in the June 2008 issue of the ACS’ Environmental Science and Technology indicates that EVs and HEVs consume as much as three times the amount of water that vehicles with conventional internal combustion engines do. The technologies could make the vehicles in highly populated, water-poor areas more expensive to operate and maintain and could have a significant impact on an area’s water resources. The study stops short of suggesting a pull-back from the technology, but instead supports the idea that regional water resource planning issues must be addressed if EVs and HEVs are widely adopted by the public.
Photo Credit: Kenn Kiser
March 17, 2008 - by Hybrid Car Chat · Filed Under Hybrid News |
