Is the American power grid ready for an electric car revolution?

Written by Bryan Johannsen

This is a question often ignored in the growing push for more pure electric and hybrid vehicles on our highways. Fuel for transportation always has to come from somewhere whether it is extracting and refining fossil fuels, conversion of grain supplies into biodiesel or electric energy.

We already know that gas prices go up during the summer due to the demand created by more travel and the numerous formulas required by different states during the hotter months of the year.

The recent push for biodiesel and ethanol saw rises in food prices due to grain supplies being converted to fuel and food acreage being used to grow fuel.

What will happen if millions of consumers suddenly started plugging their cars every night to fuel them up for the morning commute? Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently did a study on the impact that 25% market penetration of plug in vehicles would have on the power grid. These projections went out to 2020 and 2030 and used numerous variables, the most significant probably being the time of day that people charge their cars.

The worst case scenario is everyone plugging in their hybrid or electric cars at 5PM. To counter the drain ORNL figures that 160 large power plants would have to be added. The best case is everyone charging their cars after 10PM. Demand on the grid is already low at this time and could only require 8 new plants, possibly even no additional power generating facilities.

The proposed "Smart Grid" is another counter to this but a simpler one is a smart charger that knows what time of day it is. It doesn't take a genius to check a watch so the "not really all that smart" charger could regulate it's power draw against the time of day to put the least possible impact on the power grid.

You can read the latest issue of ORNL Review here: http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/

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