General Motors, Utilities to Cooperate on Electricity Grid Research for Cars
General Motors Corp., along with a consortium of more than 30 utilities an.jpg)
d a non-profit electric industry research group, has struck a deal to forestall potential problems when the company introduces its new electric vehicle to the nation's showrooms.
The alliance, which GM characterized as the largest and most comprehensive between an automaker and the electric utility industry, was formally unveiled as part of a conference in San Jose, California, devoted to plug-in vehicles.
Under the plan involving the giant car company, the Electric Power Research Institute and the utilities, the research and development effort will help facilitate the integration of plug-in vehicles such as the Chevrolet Volt (pictured) into the electricity grid, according to a statement from EPRI. The Volt is expected to be introduced for commercial sale in 2010, and should run for about 40 miles on battery power, a range that can be extended by using a small on-board gas-powered engine to recharge its batteries, according to information the company has made available. GM also has plans to develop a hybrid plug-in version of its Saturn Vue.
GM issued a statement in which its vice president of global program management, Jon Lauckner, outlined the lofty goals of the project:
"Together with EPRI and the utility companies, we can transform automotive transportation as we know it, and get our nation and the world past oil dependence - and heading toward a future that is electric. This group is taking significant steps toward making electric vehicles a reality and in helping our customers enjoy the tremendous benefits these vehicles will provide."
An EPRI official also emphasized the grid aspects of the collaboration. Said Arshad Mansoor, the organization's vice president of power delivery:
"Seemless integration of [plug-in hybrid electric vehicles] into the electric grid will require close collaboration between the automobile and electric sectors."
The statements from EPRI and the car company also address safe and convenient vehicle charging, public education and other public policies, including codes and standards.
Among the utility participants in the collaboration are Consolidated Edison of New York, Duke Energy, First Energy Corp., Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Edison Co. Others are listed as part of the EPRI statement.
The research organization last year released a report along with the Natural Resources Defense Council that concluded plug-in hybrids had the potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions. GM, meanwhile, emphasized the cost benefit of the new vehicles, saying consumers could find that the per-mile expense of an electric vehicle would be about one-fifth that of a gas-powered car.
Mansoor, in EPRI's statement, said that the research program would help link a low-carbon generation portfolio and a smart grid. That, in turn, would "facilitate widespread adoption of electricity as an alternative transportation fuel," he said.
--Dennis Pfaff
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
