The California Energy Commission has awarded a $1.5-million grant to the Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE) to develop a platform for integrating EV charging with utility-scale energy systems. CSE will work with charging network operator KnGrid to create a standardized data platform using the ISO/IEC 15118 standard. “By leveraging an international standard for how EVs… Read more »
Nissan and Endesa have agreed to work together to develop a mass-market vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system. The two companies plan to introduce V2G services in the European market and to explore the use of second-life EV batteries for stationary applications. “Every Nissan electric vehicle battery contains a power storage capability that will prove useful in contributing… Read more »
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has launched a pilot vehicle-to-grid project under which it will bid a group of energy storage systems and EV fleets as one resource directly into the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) energy markets. Utilities use storage resources like this to address short-term imbalances in electricity supply caused by such… Read more »
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and BMW are working together to test the ability of EV batteries to provide services to the electrical grid. PG&E selected BMW after a competitive solicitation to manage a minimum of 100 kilowatts of electric demand on PG&E’s system, as other large industrial and commercial customers do today as… Read more »
Eight of the top global automakers are collaborating with the Electric Power Research Institute, 15 utility companies and Sumitomo Electric to develop a two-way communication platform that would allow plug-in vehicles from all participating manufacturers to communicate with power grids via the cloud. The new technology, which was demonstrated this week, enables utilities to send… Read more »
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is working with 8 automakers and 15 electric utilities to develop an open platform that will integrate plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) with smart grid technologies. PEVs will be a critical part of the smart grid of the future, serving as a distributed energy resource to support grid reliability, stability… Read more »
The California Energy Commission has approved a $1.4-million grant to the consulting firm National Strategies (NSI) for an electric school bus demonstration program. Together with a previously awarded grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the total of $2.2 million will finance the development of six electric school buses that will be deployed… Read more »
The University of Delaware is making a small number of BMW Mini-E EVs available for lease as part of an ongoing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) demonstration project. “Individual drivers are now needed to expand the demonstration over a wider range of driving patterns,” said project leader Willett Kempton. The Grid on Wheels program will lease the vehicles… Read more »
The California Energy Commission has approved three alternative fuel infrastructure projects totaling more than $6 million. The investments, which were funded through the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (ARFVTP), include: EV charging: Ten grants totaling more than $3.5 million for 181 EV charging stations to be installed along California highway corridors, and… Read more »
As electric vehicles proliferate, more attention needs to be paid to their interaction with the electrical grid. Some fear that abundant EVs might drive up electricity prices if they are charged during times of peak demand. In a new study published in the journal Applied Energy, Carnegie Mellon University researchers found that controlled charging of… Read more »