EV's and batteries: climate change

[azul]

Electric Cars are revving up quietly at the starting line. The automakers now know that the demand is there when the batteries show up, competitively priced.

http://www.drivesolar.org/en/frankfurt2009.html



This is an idea for more quickly shifting out of the destructive and increasing violent fossil fuel burning path:

Have the government invest in promoting batteries that can run cars and be tied into the electrical grid as energy sources and storage.

Have some deal such as the government pays $10k per battery pack on the purchase of a new ev, with the condition that the battery be able to tie into the grid and will be whenever parked, for like 5 years. The electric companies then pay the government back for this investment when they use the energy or storage from these battery packs. The car owner would also get some kind of credit from the electric company when the pack is used.

It would be a complex arrangement, but pretty much a win-win situation to reduce the planet rotisserie action.

[Warren Stupidity]

1. You lost me on 'tie into the grid whenever parked'.

Not sure how that works. Seems like extension cords everywhere.

A simpler scheme is:
0) enabling technology - 200-300 mile battery pack.
1) uniform battery pack format
2) rapid automated replacement
3) existing gas stations provide pack swapping stations - get paid fairly for exchange.

The model is propane gas for your grill.

[azul]

2. Whenever parked to be tied into the grid so that the power or storage

is available to the electric utility. If they had hundreds of thousands of these storage and source packs available, from contracts and history of which hours available, the utilities could maximize solar and wind energy productions that might otherwise be unused and so lost.

Battery swapping schemes could be real good for the on-the-goers, but the point is that the industry needs a huge jump-start to stimulate development of all these schemes to determine the most effective.

[kristopher]

3. There is a larger picture where EVs are used to optimize remewable grid.

You'll want to read up on V2G (vehicle to grid). Don't think tomorrow, think 10+ years ahead. In the short term the answer that works best is a series hybrid. With those, most people have enough battery power to do all of the average daily driving. The range is extended by a small onboard engine that runs a generator to power the motors. This offers the range people want, is overall much more efficient than an ICE, and offers a corresponding dramatic decrease in CO2 emissions.

This is the design that is to be used in the Volt and most other PHEVs scheduled for release.

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. Denmark, EVs and the grid

they are making it work now

[azul]

5. Right. The US is falling behind.

Did you see all the new electric cars at the Frankfurt show? And the conspicuous dearth of American ones?

In Israel ev's are natiional security prioity. Are US taxpayer dollars funding such, but not here?