Climate Change, the Grid, and Your Electric Car

As climate change invites more extreme inclement weather, which it is, the idea of an emergency home generator becomes more doable despite its prohibitive expense.  Keeping the AC going on these 90 degree days can make the difference between comfort and the emergency room.

But wait.  GM is looking at an alternative power backup using the Volt.  An article at the Discovery Channel site suggests a couple of approaches that GM is investigating.  One concerns the trade-in batteries, which apparently still contain a 70% charge at the time of trade-in.  These used batteries might be linked together for use during a power outage. 

Part of the study showed the possibility that 33 battery packs will have enough storage capacity to power up to 50 homes for about four hours during a power outage. 

The second approach concerns using your car batteries to store power generated by solar or wind power and selling it back to the power company. 

Recently, GM and ABB demonstrated an energy storage system that combines a proven electric vehicle battery technology and a proven grid-tied electric power inverter. The two companies are building a prototype that could lead to Volt battery packs storing energy, including renewable wind and solar energy, and feeding it back to the grid. 

The system is designed to store energy from the grid during low usage periods and redistribute it back to the grid during peak demand and the packs would be used as backup supplies during outages and brownouts. Using Volt battery cells, the ABB and GM team is building a prototype system for 25-kilowatt/50-kWh applications, about the same power consumption of five U.S. homes or small retail and industrial facilities. 

Yet another possible buffer against grid failure espoused by the writer, David Goodspeed, caught my eye and is certainly worth pursuing. 

Personally, I would like to see this as a possibility for EVs — especially the Volt — that exist today. I would love to be able to draw energy back out of my vehicle if, say, the power goes out at home and I just need to run the fridge and a couple of lights. I could recharge the vehicle when the power comes back on and if not I can still drive the vehicle using the onboard generator to supply the battery pack.

Subtract the cost of an emergency generator from the price of the car and suddenly it looks like a little more reasonable buy.