Cars as Energy Sources?

It seems recently that anytime anyone mentions the future of electric vehicles, or even plug-in hybrids, part of the discussion turns to using these vehicles to supply power to the electric grid.

 

The thought process goes like this:

• Cars are plugged into the electric grid for charging
• At night, when energy demand on the grid is low, the cars get charged
• During peak energy demand, rather than starting up additional conventional power generation, the cars can offer the power back to the grid

Sounds great at the first pass.  The cars batteries, though small individually, can reduce the cost of energy during peak hours by releasing en mass energy stored during off-peak demand.  Everyone benefits - except the car owner. 

 

Follow my logic here. If I purchase an electric car, and I plug my car in in the evening, by morning I expect my car to be fully charged.  And it should be, as at night power is plentifully available. 

 

So, in the morning, I unplug my car and drive to the office for a fun day at work.  When I arrive, I plug my car back into the grid, so I can sell some power if needed.  Peak demand roles around at 3:00 pm, and my car starts selling power for more that I paid to charge my batteries.  Cash in my pocket.  Woo-hoo!

 

Unfortunately, what happens when I leave work at 5:00 pm, and find that my car has sold all of its power to the grid and cannot drive me home?  The logical solution would be that I have to program my car to maintain a reserve of power large enough for a one-way commute.  The only problem is that if you ask the major auto manufacturers (Chevy, Toyota, etc.) about power capacity in their electric cars, they all say that battery technology can only get me 60-80 miles max on one charge.  If I have driven to work, and I need a reserve to get back home, that leaves precious little energy (or little precious energy) to actually sell.

 

Plug-in hybrids hold a better solution, as they can at least drive me home on the engine if needed.  Heck, in a real power crisis, they could even serve as stationary power generating systems plugged into the grid.  But how expensive does power have to get for the driver to be willing to drive on gasoline instead of electricity?  And either the car has to be smart enough to know what that price threshold is, or the driver has to be pretty smart himself.  And that doesn't even take into account the production of green-house gases (cars are typically less efficient than stationary power generation).  Seems like a complicated system that many would opt out of for fear of not really getting ahead in the end.

 

The Tesla electric vehicle company does have one proposed future solution.  They are looking into the possibility of recycling electric car battery packs as - get this - battery packs.  Their thought is that, while a drive needs a battery that can operate at or near full capacity to ensure a usage vehicle range, the electric company should be willing to take whatever they can get.  When a car battery pack's performance drops so that it needs to be replaced in the car, it could still serve the energy industry soundly.

 

That, to me, sounds like someone who is actually thinking through a problem to find a real solution, not just propaganda!