Are electric cars really the best storage medium for excess electricity in the grid?
It is great to hear the focus on the power grid and renewable energy sources, but I agree with the previous poster. The idea as explained: With cars often used only a small fraction of a 24-hour day, battery-operated vehicles could be paid for services to make the national grid more efficient… doesn’t sound like it solves the problem. If the car has so much excess battery capacity that they can routinely be partially discharged and still have enough for driving needs, then doesn’t that mean the car has too many batteries? So shouldn’t the excess capacity be taken out of the cars and put into large scale storage (maybe not even batteries?) that probably is simpler and more efficient than trying to manage 10 million little storage sites that appear/vanish as drivers park/drive off? Aren’t there usually losses (nothing is 100% efficient) whenever power is transformed/converted and such? — JohnnyMM [Read JohnnyMM’s other letters] Permalink Tuesday, January 27, 2009 10:04 AM PST peak loa
