AE & Plug-In Hybrids: Power Coming and Going

[Dover]

AE & Plug-In Hybrids: Power Coming and Going
BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

There's a new technology in cars that could save gas and stop construction of new power plants – and Austin Energy is leading the field in its development.

In 2003, Austin Energy deputy general manager Roger Duncan was asked by Mayor Will Wynn to find innovative ways to make Austin greener. At the time, AE was struggling over how to manage West Texas wind power. While it's clean energy, the wind doesn't keep to a schedule. Production often peaks at night, when demand is lowest. According to Duncan, the engineers realized that "the automobile battery is the perfect storage for wind."

Duncan started looking at plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The difference between a PHEV and a regular hybrid is that a PHEV has bigger batteries and an onboard charger. Plug the PHEV into a regular wall socket overnight and it charges the battery off the spare wind power. On the road, it charges the battery from fuel use, like a regular hybrid. In 2005, AE launched Plug-In Austin, a campaign to promote PHEVs.

The problem, and the solution, wasn't just for Austin. "It's the same across the country," said Duncan. "The difference between daytime and nighttime use is almost enough that all the vehicles out there could be plug-in hybrids and you wouldn't have to build an additional power plant." In 2006, the campaign went national as Plug-In Partners. Originally, the plan was to start similar campaigns in the nation's 50 largest cities, but by the big launch in D.C. in January last year, 75 utility companies and industry bodies such as the American Public Power Association backed the project.

There was one problem. Nobody made PHEVs, and no one was planning to...>

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A477960

[IDemo]

1. More on V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid)

The concept has been around for awhile, and can work with plug-in hybrids and "pure" battery-electric vehicles. Virtually every late model production EV includes V2G, or "bi-directional grid interface" capabilities. Much of the development work on this was done by AC Propulsion, the makers of the drive system (motor & controller + battery & charging system) for the Tesla roadster.