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-Great Cultural Revolution
Dumb Idea of the Year So Far
2023-08-12
[HotAir] California’s largest electric utility PG&E wants to suck the batteries of electric-vehicle owners plugged into charging stations to stabilize the grid during unstable periods. The Ford F-150 already allows for bidirectional charging, but that was sold as a benefit to the owner as a kind of independent generator for households during blackouts. PG&E wants to use it to commandeer all EV batteries and use their power to prevent grid collapse.

It’s been said before, California’s power grid will have to expand in order to meet the demand for more energy. PG&E’s CEO Patricia Poppe has come up with an "unconventional" idea, using electric cars to send excess power back to the grid to prevent blackouts.

Lawmakers in Sacramento are helping to move things along. For example, Senate Bill 233 would make bi-directional charging mandatory for all new electric vehicles.

Now the question is how quickly can that electrical connection be up and running in any ordinary home to make vehicle-to-grid a reality.

Posted by:Deacon Blues

#11  "All Tesla solar systems integrate with Powerwall, a compact home battery that reduces your reliance on the grid by storing your solar energy for use when the sun isn’t shining."

Sun's shining today.
Feels Like 111°
Posted by: Skidmark   2023-08-12 16:41  

#10  I want to see how the electric companies are going to retrofit legacy electrical nets to handle the local loads of this All Electric Futureâ„¢! Electric heating, cooling, and charging stations for all citizens -OR- rolling blackouts and 'energy curfews' that never seem to apply to the zip codes where the nomenklatura live. I know which future my bet is on.
Posted by: magpie   2023-08-12 16:35  

#9  Just connect a pair of jumper cables to the batteries on gasoline powered cars.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2023-08-12 14:44  

#8  There are non-battery ways to store energy. They also are not particularly efficient. One method involves reservoirs at differing elevations. Needless to say, reservoirs rules that method out for Cali.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2023-08-12 12:05  

#7  It is a stupid idea proposed by stupid people. Peak usage is during the day, so all the battery draining would have to take place at the workplace where there are no chargers. If they were installed, no one would be able to leave work at the end of the day.

There is also energy loss with each power transfer. Programming in a game of energy ping pong is pure silliness. All these problems with electrical vehicles were predictable. We know this because the problems were all predicted: the catching on fire, slow charging, drain on an insufficient existing grid etc.. All of this was predicted. Nor is the discovery that the dumb people had another hidden dumb idea really surprising. Dumb is what they are best at. Why not double down on dumb?

Sooner or later, someone will propose having really huge batteries located by generation units to be charged during off peak hours to feed the grid during when needed. Someone else will then point out what a colossal environmental danger that unit would pose. That is a step away from realizing that the summation of the batteries of all these EVs are worse than that huge battery unit. At that point we can have an adult national conversation about nuke power.
Posted by: Super Hose   2023-08-12 11:54  

#6  What's the penalty for not plugging into the grid?
(Like, charging your vehicle off of a generator. Cause you know that's where this is headed.)
Posted by: ed in texas   2023-08-12 11:31  

#5  ^ Correct. Industry/pols have been working on this for quite a while. It's a great scam: force you in to EVs, then FORCE you to feed the grid.
Posted by: Rex Mundi   2023-08-12 11:30  

#4  Those guys really haven't been paying any attention. It's not the dumb idea of the year, some grandiose revelation after a heated, vegan brain storming session.

It's been an essential part of the plan all along, they're only just letting this cat out of the bag now, and vewwy quietwy too.
Posted by: Cesare   2023-08-12 08:09  

#3  I wonder when they will be able to charge the batteries?
Posted by: Bobby   2023-08-12 07:46  

#2  Requires switching off parts of South Africa's electric grid in a planned and controlled manner due to insufficient capacity or to avoid a countrywide blackout. The higher the stage, the more electricity needs to be saved and the longer the blackouts last for.

I'll take South Afrikan 'Load Shedding' for $600. Alex.
Posted by: Besoeker   2023-08-12 03:07  

#1  Let the automobile battery owners set the price for running down their batteries. Bidding begins at $10 for 10kWh.
Posted by: Enver Slager8035   2023-08-12 01:45  

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