Michael Giberson
From time to time you see reports of electric utility executives or analysts worried about a forthcoming avalanche of electric vehicles (EVs) that will, just maybe, overwhelm utility distribution systems. What happens if everyone comes home from work and plugs in at the same time? What happens if drivers want to recharge on-peak rather than off-peak? I’m omitting links because I’m reacting to the general attitude and not a specific analysis, but a recent sample comment was the stern declaration: “EVs need to avoid charging during peak hours.”
Nonsense.
When car batteries become sufficiently advanced that lots of people actually buy and drive an electric car, then electric-utility scale batteries will also be more advanced. It is, or at least can be, the same technology. Utility applications actually have more choices, the batteries don’t have to be lightweight, so improvements in battery technology are likely to become widespread within the power industry before they become widespread in vehicle applications.
The supply side of the industry will readily handle the changes in load presented by growth of the electric vehicle market.
Agreed. But certainly you must be assuming dynamic pricing, so that the supply and demand are matched efficiently.
Actually, and here is another issue cutting in favor of distribution- or transmission- connected battery storage over EVs, grid connected energy storage can participate in wholesale power markets – which typically have dynamic, real-time prices for energy – while EVs owners will be buying retail and selling services into a wholesale market AND the retail transaction will likely be on terms regulated by the state utility commission and may or may not be dynamic, real-time prices.