How electric cars could rescue the US power grid

California finalized a rule last month that will ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in the state in the 20th century. It will encourage other states to do the same and speed up the adoption of electric vehicles. California has led the way. Spurning carbon-spewing vehicles could help bolster the electrical grids.

Cars are becoming part of the larger energy infrastructure. If your EV is sitting in your garage fully charged and you lose power, there is a chance to keep the lights on. When there is a sudden spike in demand for the grid, utilities can pay homeowners for their excess battery power.

This is known as bidirectional or vehicle-to-grid charging (aka V2G), and it’s “one of the legitimate game changers,” says Clifford Rechtschaffen, commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission. “If all the EVs in the state plug in during these peak load times and feed power back to the grid, they’re acting as giant batteries. We could use them to greatly relieve stress on the grid during the periods of greatest need.”

V2G is still in its infancy. There are more than 100 V2G pilots around the world. California's experimentation has been limited. Experts think the concept of two-way charging could work on a large scale, despite the fact that more manufacturers are offering it. According to a recent estimate, there could be 200 million electric vehicles on the road by the year 2030. The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that California could have 14 million people by the end of the century. It would be possible for local utilities to power every home in the state for three days.

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When a person plugs in a car to charge it, alternating current power is converted into direct current power, which is stored inside the car's battery. DC power can be added to the grid if the owner has a transformer.

Bidirectional chargers are not common today and can cost a lot of money. They are being rolled out to help EV owners contribute to the grid or store power for their own use. The electric F-150 can power a home for up to three days. Volkswagen claims that it has the ability to charge its newest and upcoming EV. Nissan has been selling the all-electric Leaf in the US for almost 12 years, and this month the company approved the first bidirectional charge for it.

Max Baumhefner is a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. They can encourage EV drivers to help the grid by offering time-of-use rates, which make it cheaper for owners to charge at times when the grid is not taxed. Baumhefner concluded that if we gave people a little nudging, they would respond. It's possible to keep costs down for all grid users by helping utilities use the infrastructure they already paid for more efficiently.

According to the vice president of customer programs and services at the utility, the trick will be standardization. It would help if the various EV and charging systems were technologically integrated. It's similar to what we saw in the solar industry It was the first time we moved from one-way power flow into homes with other power flows. The EV batteries in the garage need to be used by utilities and charging companies.