What Will Consumers Think of Vehicle to Grid Technology?

The introduction of plug-in vehicles to the mass automotive market will undoubtedly make a consumer’s purchasing decision more complex. They will have to consider the virtues and vices of these new powertrain technologies and how they will fit in with their lifestyles. As if this was not complicated enough, the future introduction of an additional option related to plug-in vehicles has the possibility of leaving the general driver scratching their heads.

Vehicle-to-Grid technology allows a plug-in vehicle to communicate with the electricity grid and offer responsive services such as storing unused electricity during times of low demand with the option of releasing this stored energy back to the grid should any demand peaks occur. This service would be paid for by the utility companies offering plug-in vehicle drivers with an additional source of revenue to offset their vehicle’s high upfront costs. As more renewable energy is put onto the grid new mechanisms will need to be installed to smooth out supply of energy. Having the capability to drawn down on stored supplies generated from renewable energy would be much more effective than firing up a coal electricity plant every time there is a drop in generation.

 

So V2G technology seems to be a good idea in principle but how difficult will it be to make it a reality? Firstly the vehicles will need to be engineered with this function in mind which the current “2^nd generation” EVs don’t have out the box. Secondly the grid will need to be updated to allow for two way energy transfer. This is a step beyond the UK Government’s current plan of installing smart meters into UK homes. These two requirements will have hefty costs associated with them so it may not prove financially effective to install V2G until plug-in vehicles make up a significant share of the market and this concept can make a real difference to UK energy generation and storage.

This means we have some time to consider how best to format V2G technology. One big question for me is will we need to bring consumers to the table on this one? It seems to me that the majority of the “work” involved can be done automatically by the smart grid. The V2G aspect of the vehicle can be pitched as an additional source of revenue to potential consumers but there will be implications relating to battery longevity if it is used both for personal mobility and energy smoothing. I can imagine some consumers would be highly interested in this potential plug-in vehicle attribute and would enjoy a user interface that allowed them to optimise their electricity storing and sell back. I can equally foresee other consumers not caring a dot for this feature and who would desire their plug-in vehicle to simply operate as a vehicle. As this technology is still some way off it should come to market when consumers already have a good idea about plug-in vehicles. Hopefully this will seem like a logical step to them and not cause any undue stress on their abilities of comprehension.