PEVs and the Electricity Business

Moderator: Mayer Sasson

Speaker 1: Harold Adams, Senior Planning Engineer at Downes Associates, Inc.

Harold spoke on the "Opportunities and Risks for Utilities". He covered two major topics. The first topic were questions that the utilities must address in order to be successful in the EV charging business. These questions are:

- How much total demand caused by PEVs?
- When will the demand will occur?
- Where is the demand?
- What price will consumers will pay for electricity to charge PEVs?

The second topic includes the discussion of five issues with charging EVs for a utility. These issues were:

- Charging infrastructure
- Impact on the distribution system
- Impact on Capacity
- Supply and Grid Planning
- Impact on Electric Markets and Rates

Harold provided a good overview of what is necessary for a utility to take on PEV charging.

Speaker 2: Dr. Jim Gover, Professor at Kettering University.

Jim's talk was entitled "Business and Technical Hurdles to Widespread Implementation". His talk focused on the future of auto business climate and its technical challenges.

Two key items he highlighted was the high possibility of federal subsidy going away and the entrance of competition from China. The technical challenges he discussed were:

- Computer Models for Optimization of System Integration
- Batteries
- Power electronics
- Motors

He approximates that about 3 million electric and hybrid cars will be sold in the US by 2015. He also identifies that the lack of marketing of hybrid technology is problem and that it is better to hybridize heavy vehicles to maximize economics.
An interesting prediction Jim said was "At $5, which seems like the 'magic number', people will buy compact cars and hybrids regardless of economics." He concluded that the need to promote alternative values of hybrid technology and that institution and public education needed are the top two issues that need to be addressed.

Jim's talk gave us some good insight into the economics of the the charging business and what a utility needs to prepare for.

Speaker 3: Chris Mi, Professor at the University of Michigan.

He spoke on the safety and longevity concerns of batteries. He reported that 600 deaths & 3600 disabilities a year from to electrical incidents and that risks with charging stations cannot be identified immediately. It is a wait and see situation.

The focus of his talk was on charging technology. There are three types of charging: direct (conductive), inductive, and wireless. We currently use and have technology for direct charging. The safety concerns for this type of charging is the impact of weather and electrical exposure due to the use of exposed cable and connectors. Inductive is better but wireless charging is the best solution for safety, convenience and efficiency in the long run. It is possible but there is a lot of obstacles to get there.

Chris' talk was a Very interesting talk about inexperience of charging, its safety concerns and the future of charging technology.

Overall, this session provided us with a lot information that must be addressed for us to get the EV infrastructure ready for widespread use.