Electric cars remove emissions from exhaust pipes and can even strengthen the electric grid

• Millions more tram on the road that could make the US grid more resilient.
• An innovation called vehicle-to-grid technology, or V2G, allows electric vehicles to supply electricity to the grid in times of need, but it’s still in its early stages.
• One day, electric vehicles could store large amounts of energy and help the US transition to renewable energy sources.

As the United States accelerates toward a future filled with electric vehicles, it’s reasonable to wonder how much more grid demand could grow. After all, during the recent heatwave, California’s grid operator urge customers to limit charging their car to avoid power outages.

However, energy and transportation experts say that with some planning, utilities fully capable of handling cleaner cars plugged in. Better yet, electric SUVs, truckand buses can strengthen the grid if deployed intelligently.

Electric vehicles can store energy when it is needed most

When Electric Car is parked (that’s most of the time), the battery the collective can become one Valuable property for larger gridExperts say.

One day, millions of vehicles could use special bidirectional chargers to absorb energy when power is plentiful and release it back to the grid when needed, helping utilities manage heatwaves and other utilities. another spike in demand. This vision is based on something known as vehicle-to-grid technology, or V2G.

Experts like Matthias Preindl, a professor of electrical engineering at Columbia University, also predict that V2G could help the country get rid of dirty energy sources. Solar and wind power are not continuous, so turning on lights when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing requires storing energy for later. Electric cars can do that, he said.

“If we want to go towards 100% renewable energy, which is currently the goal of many states, that takes a lot of batteries,” Preindl told Insider. “And cars seem to be the only really viable solution at the moment.”

If the majority of the U.S. fleet were to go electric, the amount of spare batteries available would be enormous: The National Resources Defense Council estimates that 14 million EVs are expected to be on California’s roads by the end of the year. 2035 maybe power all state homes for three days.

There is still a long road ahead

While V2G has been rolled out in limited ways (mostly through pilot programs), there are still obstacles for the technology to become mainstream.

Andrew Meintz, chief engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, told Insider, in order for electric vehicle owners to regularly power the grid on a large scale, automakers, companies, Chargers and utilities will need to standardize the process. Participants will also need to be paid with utilities for their contributions, he said.

Meintz said a more viable use case for V2G in the short term could be with large fleets. For example, Amazon has the money and is willing to work with utility providers, vehicle manufacturers, and charging companies to solve problems.

EVs already support the grid on a small scale

Highland Electric Fleets, which provides electric buses and charging infrastructure to school districts, has been testing V2G as another revenue source since 2021. This summer, two school buses. Their V2G support in Massachusetts pushes electricity to the grid almost daily to benefit the local Sean Leach, the company’s chief technology officer, told Insider that will handle periods of high energy consumption. It is planning broader V2G projects in Vermont, Maryland and elsewhere.

“At the end of the day, let’s use these buses for what they can. These batteries are huge. They spend a lot of time not doing anything because the routes are easy. guess for schools,” Leach said. Right now, the company gets email requests to offload energy, but it’s working on automating everything.

It will take a lot of work before we see millions of EVs seamlessly support the larger grid. But some vehicles have been able to share energy locally in useful and interesting ways. Ford’s F-150 Lightning pickup can provide emergency backup power to a customer’s home, as long as they have a suitable home charger. Trucks coming from Synthetic engine promise to do so.

Edward J. Klock-McCook, principal of sustainability consultancy RMI, told Insider that if it becomes widespread enough, this kind of capability could benefit the grid in the same way that a future does. Full V2G will do. Equipped with large batteries in Lightnings and Chevrolet Silverado EVsHomeowners can provide their own electricity during a power outage or when the grid is stressed.