Gas prices are up. Gas prices are down. Now they're up. No wait....down. The fluctuations have us all furrowing our brows. But a few folks, mostly researchers, tech experts and utility companies, are investigating ways to make it all go away. They're looking at how hybrid electric and plug-in electric cars could provide a more sustainable, carbon-free mode of transportation.
How? Through a concept called vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. It involves cars that can plug into an electrical outlet and, thereby, the electric grid. The owner charges her car during low-peak period, like when she's sleeping. And allows the utility company to tap her car's battery when electricity demand is super high, like during the middle of a hot summer day. The concept could revolutionize the electric power grid and at the same time, put money directly into consumer pockets. Find out how by diving into our Wide Angle on V2G.
- Top 10: V2G Projects
In the future, electric cars take energy from a smart power grid and then give it back when the grid's peaking. It's a long way off, but people are working now to make it happen.
- News: Cars Designed to Feed Electric Grid. This month, the City of Newark, Delaware became the first electric utility in the US to use a car to store and provide power for the local electric grid. The vehicle, which runs on electricity alone, is specifically designed to store energy and improve grid reliability.
- Video: Electric Car Feeds Grid. V2G
technology can turn an electric car into a moving power station. Jorge
Ribas rides shotgun with Willett Kempton, the man behind the concept.
- Blog: Super Duper Sustainable Stuff: Vehicle to Grid Faces Speed Bumps. Wouldn't it be awesome if we could have a two-way charging system when electric vehicles become widely available? That way the cars could store some power and serve as a backup electricity source in a pinch. Fortunately, vehicle to grid or V2G, is in the works. Unfortunately, it faces myriad challenges before it becomes a national reality.
- Puzzle: Electric Cars Got the Look. Electric cars come in all shapes and sizes, from sporty to practical to manly. Check out the styles and then do the puzzle.
- Podcast: Engineering Works! Fill Up on Electricity. Engineers and entrepreneurs are combining engineering and futuristic business plans to make electricity work. One company, Better Place,
is looking at cars and electricity the same way we look at cell phones
and minutes. Instead of selling cars and gasoline, their idea is to
sell mobility. You buy or lease your car and download electricity just
like you download music. And maybe best of all, the electricity comes
from solar and wind power.
- Blog: How About an Electric Car With That Mortgage?
Every once and a while, important and serendipitous collaborations emerge. They're so simple--like peanut butter in chocolate cups--that you wonder why everything can't be so obvious. Same goes for a house and car. Why keep separating them?
